omettre

Forms

omettre^[1] The variant obmettre was used from the 15th to the 18th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin omittō (“to let go, give up”), adapted to French after mettre.^[4][5][6][7] The Latin verb is formed from ob (“before”) and mittō (“to send, let go”); in Christian Latin it also meant “to leave” and “to forgive”.^[4][5]

The noun omission was borrowed separately (1415 in Rey, 1350 in Bloch and Wartburg) from Late Latin omissiō.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records omettre from 1307, meaning “to omit, leave unmentioned”.^[8] The TLFi's first record, of 1337 in a document from Arçay (Vienne) cited by Godefroy, means “to leave something aside”.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

From the first texts the verb meant to leave aside a thing or a mention, and these senses have hardly changed.^[5] The GLLF dates omettre de with an infinitive to 1624 (Richelieu), omettre que to 1662 (Bossuet) and omettre quelqu'un to 1728 (Voltaire); Rey dates the sense of leaving a person out of a list to 1803.^[9][5] In the 16th century Amyot construed it with à and an infinitive, omis à faire le sacrifice.^[10]

In 1907 the past participle omis became a noun in the army, for young men left off by mistake from the census lists of their class.^[4][5] Littré notes the pedantic tradition of saying obmettre in a line of Racine's Plaideurs.^[10]

Timeline

• 1307 – Recorded in Anglo-Norman.^[8]
• 1337 – First record on the Continent, “to leave aside”.^[4]
• 15th century – The variant obmettre appears.^[2]
• 1624 – Richelieu uses omettre de with an infinitive.^[9]
• 1662 – Bossuet uses omettre que.^[9]
• 1907 – Omis becomes a military noun.^[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To leave out, through forgetfulness or carelessness, something one should mention, consider or do; to omit: il n'a omis aucun détail.^[3][4][1]
2. Omettre de + infinitive: to fail to do something, to neglect to: elle a omis de fermer la porte.^[3][9]
3. Omettre quelqu'un: to leave someone out of a list or enumeration.^[3][10]

Related words

• omission
• mettre
• Latin omittō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 352b
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette