extenuation : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: extenuation	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for extenuation
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
extenuation n a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances Synonym(s): extenuation, mitigation to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious Synonym(s): extenuation, mitigation, palliation
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Extenuation \Exten`ua"tion\, n. [L. extenuatio: cf. F. ext[82]nuation.] The act of axtenuating or the state of being extenuated; the act of making thin, slender, or lean, or of palliating; diminishing, or lessening; palliation, as of a crime; mitigation, as of punishment. To listen . . . to every extenuation of what is evil. --I. Taylor.