different between support vs mitigate

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /s??p??t/, [s??p???t]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /s??p??t/, [s??p???t], [s??p?o?t]
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /s??po(?)?t/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /s??po?t/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t
• Hyphenation: sup?port

Etymology 1

From Middle English supporten, from Old French supporter, from Latin support?. Displaced Old English underwreþian and Old English fultum.

Verb

support (third-person singular simple present supports, present participle supporting, simple past and past participle supported)

2. (transitive) To keep from falling.

3. (transitive) To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold.

5. (transitive) To back a cause, party, etc., mentally or with concrete aid.

6. (transitive) To help, particularly financially.
7. To verify; to make good; to substantiate; to establish; to sustain.
   • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will

     to urge such arguments, as though they were sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy

8. (transitive) To serve, as in a customer-oriented mindset; to give support to.

9. (transitive) To be designed (said of machinery, electronics, or computers, or their parts, accessories, peripherals, or programming) to function compatibly with or provide the capacity for.

10. (transitive) To be accountable for, or involved with, but not responsible for.

11. (archaic) To endure without being overcome; bear; undergo; to tolerate.

    • This fierce demeanour and his insolence / The patience of a god could not support.

    • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

      For a strong affection such moments are worth supporting, and they will end well; for your advocate is in your lover's heart and speaks her own language […]

12. To assume and carry successfully, as the part of an actor; to represent or act; to sustain.

Synonyms

• (to keep from falling): underprop, uphold, stut

Antonyms

• (to back a cause, party, etc.): oppose

Derived terms

• supportable
• supported
• supportive

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English support, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French support. Displaced Old English underwreþung.

Noun

support (countable and uncountable, plural supports)

1. (sometimes attributive) Something which supports.

2. Financial or other help.
3. Answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold.

4. (mathematics) in relation to a function, the set of points where the function is not zero, or the closure of that set.
5. (fuzzy set theory) A set whose elements are at least partially included in a given fuzzy set (i.e., whose grade of membership in that fuzzy set is strictly greater than zero).

6. Evidence.

7. (computing) Compatibility and functionality for a given product or feature.

8. An actor playing a subordinate part with a star.
9. An accompaniment in music.
10. (gymnastics) Clipping of support position.
11. (structural analysis) Horizontal, vertical or rotational support of structures: movable, hinged, fixed. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Antonyms

• (mathematics): kernel

Hyponyms

• moral support
• (answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold): first-level support, second-level support, third-level support
• (military): combat support

Derived terms

• support act
• support group

Translations

French

Etymology

From the verb supporter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.p??/

Noun

support m (plural supports)

1. support
2. base
3. (heraldry) supporter

Further reading

• “support” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin m?tig?tus, from m?tig?, from m?tis (“gentle, mild, ripe”) + ag? (“do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh?i- (“mild, soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?t.?.?e?t/

Verb

mitigate (third-person singular simple present mitigates, present participle mitigating, simple past and past participle mitigated)

1. (transitive) To reduce, lessen, or decrease; to make less severe or easier to bear.
   • 1795 – George Washington, Seventh State of the Union Address

     Measures are pursuing to prevent or mitigate the usual consequences of such outrages, and with the hope of their succeeding at least to avert general hostility.

   • 1813 – James Madison, Fifth State of the Union Address

     But in yielding to it the retaliation has been mitigated as much as possible, both in its extent and in its character...

   • 1896 – Walter Hadwen, The Case Against Vaccination

     Then they tell us that vaccination will mitigate the disease that it will make it milder.

   • 1901 – H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon, ch 7

     Then I discovered the brilliance of the landscape around was mitigated by blue spectacles.

   • 1920 – H. P. Lovecraft, The Cats of Ulthar

     The plague had not been kind to him, yet had left him this small furry thing to mitigate his sorrow; and when one is very young, one can find great relief in the lively antics of a black kitten.

2. (transitive) To downplay.

Usage notes

Particularly used as mitigate a problem or flaw. Contrast with ameliorate (“make better”).

This word is often misused to mean “operate” or “influence”. For this meaning, the correct word is militate, followed by “against” or “in favour of”. Mitigate is never followed by these expressions.

Synonyms

• (to reduce or lessen): alleviate, check, diminish, ease, lighten, mollify, pacify, palliate

Antonyms

• (to reduce or lessen): aggrandize, aggravate, exacerbate, incite, increase, intensify, irritate, worsen

Coordinate terms

• ameliorate

Related terms

• mitigable
• mitigant
• mitigated
• mitigating
• mitigation
• mitigatory

Translations

References

Italian

Verb

mitigate

1. second-person plural present indicative of mitigare
2. second-person plural imperative of mitigare
3. feminine plural of mitigato

Latin

Participle

m?tig?te

1. vocative masculine singular of m?tig?tus