emissio

Forms

ēmissiō f (genitive ēmissiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ēmittō (“to send out”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in On Divination for the setting free of a female snake, which would bring death to Tiberius Gracchus.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a rare word for a release or a letting go,^[5] the discharge of missiles (in the plural, the power of hurling them),^[2][5] and, in Aulus Gellius, the emission of rays from the eyes.^[2][5] The glossaries render it with Greek words for release.^[3]

In the Vulgate in emissione means “in exile”,^[5][6] and Ecclesiastical Latin also used it for making a religious profession.^[6] Medieval sources add a bubonic plague, a crafty plan, and the issuing or a copy of a charter.^[7] English took emission from it, partly through Old French, in the early 15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of setting a snake free and of the discharge of missiles.^[2][4]
• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it of rays sent out from the eyes.^[2][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses in emissione for exile.^[5][4]
• 752–768 – It appears in diplomas of these years.^[4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as emission.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A setting free, release (of a captive).^[2][5]
2. The discharge of missiles; in the plural, the power of hurling.^[2][5]
3. An emission (of rays).^[2][5]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) exile, in the phrase in emissiōne.^[5][6]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The making of a religious profession.^[6]
6. (Medieval Latin) Bubonic plague.^[7]
7. (Medieval Latin) Treachery, a crafty plan.^[7]
8. (Medieval Latin) The issuing or a copy of a charter.^[7]

Related words

• English emission

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com