From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mollify \Mol"li*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Mollified}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Mollifying}.] [F. mollifier, L. mollificare; mollis
soft + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Enmollient}, {Moil},
v. t., and {-fy}.]
1. To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness,
harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the
ground.
[1913 Webster]
With sweet science mollified their stubborn hearts.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited
feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
mollify
v 1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of;
"She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: {pacify},
{lenify}, {conciliate}, {assuage}, {appease}, {mollify},
{placate}, {gentle}, {gruntle}]
2: make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding
something else; moderate; "she tempered her criticism" [syn:
{temper}, {season}, {mollify}]
3: make less rigid or softer
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