Etymology and origin of the Italian word rimettere
Italian rimettere is two verbs of different formation: rimettere “to forgive, to remit”, a learned borrowing of Latin remittere, and rimettere “to put back, to put again”, formed in Italian from mettere.[1][2] DELI and Nocentini number them in this order;[1][2] in French they have merged in French remettre.[2]
rimettere1 forgive
Etymology tree of rimettere1
From the same root · rimettere1
Pronunciation
- /riˈmet.te.re/[3]
Forms
rimettere (first-person singular present rimétto, first-person singular past historic rimìsi, past participle rimésso, auxiliary avére)[3]
Etymology
The verb “to forgive” is a learned word, borrowed from Latin remittō (“to send back; to slacken; to forgive”), with the past participle remissus, from mittō (“to let go, to send”) with the prefix re-.[1][2][4][3] Its sense in Latin widened from “to send back, to let go” to “to forgive”.[1] The same Latin verb is French remettre, Occitan remeter and Spanish remitir.[2][5]
De Vaan reconstructs the Latin verb as Proto-Italic *meite/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, to remove”): from “exchange” the meaning moved to “give” and “let go, send”.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni's Della miseria dell'uomo (before 1292), with the sense “to forgive, to condone”; the verb also appears in the statutes of the wool guild of Siena (1293–1309).[1] GRADIT gives the same date for rimettere as a whole.[7]
Semantic evolution
The participle rimesso “condoned” is recorded in Passavanti (1354).[1] The learned family includes remissione (13th century), from remissio, and remissivo (16th century).[2] The sense survives in religious and legal language, in the forgiving of sins and the waiving of debts and penalties.[7][4][8]
Timeline
- Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses rimettere for “to forgive”.[1]
- 1293–1309 – The statutes of the wool guild of Siena use the verb.[1]
- 1354 – Passavanti uses rimesso “condoned”.[1]
Meanings
Verb
- (formal) To forgive, to remit a sin, a debt or a penalty: Il re rimise la pena ai prigionieri.[7][4][8]
Word family
- remissione
- remissivo
- remittente
rimettere2 put back
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- late 13th century, Novellino
- Ultimate origin
- Latin mittō
Etymology tree of rimettere2
From the same root · rimettere2
Pronunciation
- /riˈmet.te.re/[3]
Forms
rimettere (first-person singular present rimétto, first-person singular past historic rimìsi, past participle rimésso, auxiliary avére)[3]
Etymology
The verb “to put back” is from Italian ri- + mettere, with the prefix in several of its senses: “again”, “back”, “away”.[1][2][9][10][3] Spanish has the parallel formation Spanish remeter.[2] DELI notes that the participle rimesso became a noun in both genders, and that rimessaggio shows French influence.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first record is in the Novellino (late 13th century), in the sense “to put again, to put back”: a host has the nuts gathered one by one and put back in the sack.[1][11]
Semantic evolution
Many senses followed: “to restore to an earlier state” in Boccaccio (1348–1353), “to grow again, to put out” of plants and hair (about 1350), “to send, especially money” (about 1400, Sercambi), “to entrust to others” (1525, Machiavelli), and “to postpone” (before 1566).[1] The pronominal rimettersi meant “to rely on someone's will” in Boccaccio and “to recover one's health” in Daniello Bartoli (1653).[1] Rimetterci, “to lose by it”, is Tuscan usage recorded in 1863, and the sense “to vomit” appears in Palazzi's dictionary (1939–1940).[1]
The noun rimessa has had a long career: the act of putting back (before 1306), a remittance of money (1401, Datini archive), a shed for carriages and later the garage, autorimessa, and in sport the throw-in or kick that puts the ball back in play.[1][2]
Timeline
- Late 13th century – The Novellino uses rimettere for “to put back”.[1]
- 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to restore”.[1]
- 1401 – Rimessa “remittance” appears in the Datini archive.[1]
- 1525 – Machiavelli uses rimettere for “to entrust”.[1]
- 1863 – Fanfani records rimettere “to lose” in Tuscan.[1]
- 1939–1940 – Palazzi records the sense “to vomit”.[1]
- 1963 – Rimessaggio is recorded.[1][2]
Meanings
Verb
- To put back, to put again in a place or position: Rimetti il latte in frigo, per favore.[7][9][4]
- To bring back to an earlier condition; with in or a: rimettere in ordine, to tidy up, rimettere a nuovo, to restore, rimettere in libertà, to set free again.[7][9][12]
- To put on again (clothes): Si rimise il cappotto e uscì.[7][4]
- Of plants, to put out (shoots, roots) again.[7][4][12]
- To refer, to entrust a decision or a case to someone: rimettere la questione al giudice.[4][12][8]
- To send, to remit money or documents.[4][12][8]
- (colloquial) To vomit, to throw up: Dopo il viaggio in nave ha rimesso.[7][4][3]
- (sport) To put the ball back in play.[7][4]
- rimetterci: to lose, to come off worse: In quell'affare ci ho rimesso parecchio.[4][12][8]
- rimettersi: to recover; of weather, to clear up; to rely on someone's judgement.[1][9][12]
Word family
- rimessa
- rimesso
- rimessaggio
- rimetterci
- rimettersi
- autorimessa
Related words
Usage notes
Common set phrases with the second verb include rimettere piede “to set foot again (in a place)”, rimettere mano “to take up again”, rimettere in discussione “to call into question again” and rimettere in piedi “to put back on its feet”.[7][12][9]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
- ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ a b c d e Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
- ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
- ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 840
- ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
- ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Rimettere.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/rimettere. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on . ·