com-mītĭgo

I. to make soft, mellow: alicui sandalio caput, humorously for contundo, Ter. Eun. 5, 7, 4 (imitated: misero mihi mitigabat sandalio caput, Turp. ap. Non. p. 343, 15; cf. also: mitis sum fustibus, Plaut. Mil. 5, 1, 31).