Etymologically
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demitto

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [deːˈmɪt.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [deˈmit.to][1]

Forms

dēmittō (present infinitive dēmittere, perfect active dēmīsī, supine dēmissum); third conjugation[1] It is sometimes spelled dim- through confusion with dīmittō.[2]

Etymology

It is from dē- “down” and mittō “to send, let go”.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨mittō⟩ to Proto-Italic *meit-e/o-, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ytH₂- (“to exchange, remove”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of dropping something into a container.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to let fall, drop, shed, as in Virgil; to plunge into something, as in Plautus; to sink or plant in the ground, as in Cato; to send down, make descend, and reflexively to go down, as in Virgil; to lower, let down, as in Cicero's in flūmen equum dēmittere; and to bow the body, as in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[2][6] Figuratively it meant to commit oneself to something, as in Cicero; to take ideas in, as in Sallust; to reduce or demote, as in Quintilian; and to dispirit, animum dēmittere “to lose heart”, as in Seneca.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to sink, settle, lie down, forgive.[7] English demit (early 15th century, “to flow down; to humble oneself”) came through Old French demetre and directly from Latin.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of planting.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of lowering.[2][5]
  • early 15th century – English demit is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To let fall, drop; to plunge into.[2]
  2. To sink, plant.[2]
  3. To send down, lower, (reflexive) to descend.[2]
  4. To bow, stoop.[2]
  5. To reduce, demote.[2]
  6. To dispirit: animum dēmittere to lose heart.[2]

Word family

  • dēmissīcius
  • dēmissiō
  • dēmissē
  • dēmissus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson