Ex‐ten′u‐a″tion (?), n. [L. extenuatio: cf. F. exténuation.] 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.