mitigate

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The Word of the Day for August 24 is: 

mitigate   \MIT-uh-gayt\   verb
     1 : to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify 
    *2 : to make less severe or painful : alleviate
     3 : extenuate 

Example sentence:
     Gordon was determined to help mitigate the suffering of the people in the 
tornado-ravaged area.

Did you know?
     Would it be correct to say, "His boyish appearance mitigated against his 
getting an early promotion"? Most usage commentators would say "no." They feel 
such examples demonstrate a long-standing confusion between "mitigate" and the 
look-alike "militate." Those two words are not closely related etymologically 
("mitigate" descends from the Latin verb "mitigare," meaning "to soften," 
whereas "militate" traces to "militare," another Latin verb that means "to 
engage in warfare"), nor are they particularly close in meaning ("militate" 
means "to have weight or effect"). The confusion between the two has existed 
for long enough that one commentator thinks "mitigate against" should be 
accepted as an idiomatic alternative to "militate," but if you want to avoid 
criticism, you should keep "mitigate" and "militate" distinct.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.