Similar to sauté or caramelizing, sweating vegetables means dry heat cooking them in a pot or pan with little or no fat and at a low enough temperature that they do not brown. The flavor is different from a vegetable that has been browned. The flavor is cleaner and less sweet. One should sweat vegetables if they wish to serve them with fish or poached chicken; they’re light in flavor. When one makes a perfect risotto, they sweat the onions -- no browning-- then add their rice and stir. Then, when the dry rice is hot to touch, the white wine is stirred in, followed by the warm stock (500 ml at a time). Beautiful risotto, that all started with tasty onions that were allowed to sweat. Learn to sweat and be proud of it.
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