Definition of: palliate

(pal′ē·āt) v.t. ·at·ed, ·at·ing
1. To cause (a crime, fault, etc.) to appear less serious or offensive; extenuate.
2. To relieve the symptoms or effects of without curing, as a disease; alleviate; mitigate. [<LL palliatus, pp. of palliare cloak <pallium a cloak]
—pal′li·a′tion noun
—pal′li·a′tor noun Synonyms: cloak, conceal, cover, excuse, extenuate, hide, mitigate, screen, veil. Cloak, from the French, and palliate, from the Latin, are the same in original signification, but have diverged in meaning; to cloak a sin is to attempt to hide it from discovery; to palliate it is to attempt to hide some part of its blame-worthiness. Either to palliate or to extenuate is to admit the fault; but extenuate seeks especially to lessen the culpability involved; hence we speak of extenuating circumstances, since circumstances, while they cannot change the inherent wrong of an act, may yet lessen the blameworthiness of him who does it. In reference to diseases, to palliate is to diminish their violence, or partly to relieve the sufferer. See ALLAY, ALLEVIATE, HIDE. Antonyms: see synonyms for AGGRAVATE.