Etymology and origin of the Latin word manumitto
From the same root
Forms
manūmittō (present infinitive manūmittere, perfect active manūmīsī, supine manūmissum); third conjugation[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin manus (“hand, power”) + mittō (“to send, let go”):[2][3] the ablative manū (“from the hand”) and the verb were joined into one word, “to release from the hand”.[1][4] The verb mittō goes back to Proto-Italic *meit-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”).[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Plautus has it with its parts still apart, in the Aulularia: ōrābō ut manū mē mittat, “I will ask him to set me free”.[6]
Semantic evolution
It was the legal term for freeing a slave, releasing him from the master's power, manus;[2][6][3] Varro already uses it.[7] Earlier writers write it as one word or as two, but from Terence, the jurists and later authors it is always one word, as the nouns manūmissiō and manūmissor confirm.[8] Cicero speaks of slaves freed on the advice of relatives,[6] and Tacitus of slaves freed by will.[6]
English took it over in the early 15th century as manumit.[4]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the phrase manū mittere for freeing a slave.[6][9]
- 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[7][9]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of slaves freed on the advice of relatives.[6][9]
- 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of slaves freed by will.[6][9]
- early 15th century – English borrows it as manumit.[4]
Meanings
Verb
- To free (a slave) from one's power, to manumit, emancipate.[2][6]
Word family
- manūmissiō
- manūmissor
Related words
- English manumit
Usage notes
The phrase can still be split by other words, as in Cicero's manū vērō cūr mīserit?, “but why did he free them?”, and Livy's manū nōn mittere.[6][8] Isidore of Seville explained the participle as quasi manū ēmissus, “as if sent out of the hand”.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Derived terms
Cite this entry
“Manumitto.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/manumitto. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.
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