Noun

The gentle or kind exercise of power; leniency, mercy; compassion in judging or punishing.

* 1601 , William Shakespeare, Hamlet :

For vs, and for our Tragedie, / Heere stooping to your Clemencie : / We begge your hearing Patientlie.

* 2010 , Priyamvada Gopal, The Guardian , 4 May 2010:

A death sentence for Kasab, seen to represent Pakistan, will be widely supported in a frenzy of righteous retribution. Presidential clemency is politically improbable.

Mildness of weather.

Noun

The state or quality of being moderate; avoidance of extremes

* {{quote-book

, passage=...It regulates and governs the Passions of the Mind, and brings them into due moderation and frame... , page=17 , title=An Account of the Growth of Deism in England , author=William Stephens , year=1696}}

* 1772 , , [http://books.google.com/books?id=twVuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA394]:

Mr. Chairman, at this moment I stand astonished at my own moderation !

* 1821 October 12, , [http://books.google.com/books?id=5q4XBa5jsy8C&pg=PA7]:

America is a model of force and freedom and moderation - with all the coarseness and rudeness of its people.

An instance of moderating: bringing something away from extremes, especially in a beneficial way

* {{quote-news, year=1936, date=March, work=The Southern Lumberman citation

, passage=With the quick moderation of the weather some buying has appeared that had been held up because of the extremely cold weather

The process of moderating a discussion

The moderation of a large online forum can be hard work.