Etymology

extenuation

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Today it means: The action or process of making or becoming thin; an instance of this; a shrunken condition; leanness, emaciation. Full definition →

Latin extenuātiō
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromextenuātiō“a thinning or diminishing”, “rarefaction”; rhetoric “a lessening”, “diminution”, “extenuation”
  2. English todayextenuation

An adaptation of extenuātiōn-, the oblique stem of the Latin extenuātiō (“a thinning or diminishing”, “rarefaction”; rhetoric “a lessening”, “diminution”, “extenuation”), noun of action from extenuō (“to thin, reduce, or diminish”). Equivalent to extenuate + -ion. Compare the French exténuation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.