pare vs lessen

pare and lessen both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
pare	No	No	Yes	No
lessen	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, lessen is a hypernym of pare; that is, lessen is a word with a broader meaning than pare:

Other hypernyms of pare include decrease, minify.

pare (verb)	lessen (verb)
decrease gradually or bit by bit	decrease in size, extent, or range
remove the edges from and cut down to the desired size	wear off or die down
cut small bits or pare shavings from	make become smaller
remove the skin from