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.

see mitigation

a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances

to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious

Information that renders a crime less heinous than it would be without it and is presented in an effort to lessen the punishment that could be awarded at a court-martial or a nonjudicial punishment proceeding.