commitigo

com-mītĭgo (con-m-), āre, v. a.,

to make soft , mellow : alicui sandalio caput, humorously for contundo, Ter. Eun. 1028 (imitated: misero mihi mitigabat sandalio caput, Turp. ap. Non. p. 343, 15; cf. also: mitis sum fustibus, Plaut. Mil. 5, 1, 31).