omitto

Forms

omittō (present infinitive omittere, perfect active omīsī, supine omissum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ob- + mittō (“to let go, send”), through ⟨*ommittō⟩.^[2][3][1] Etymonline takes the prefix to be intensive here.^[4] De Vaan derives mittō from Proto-Italic *meit-e/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”); the sense would have moved from “exchange” to “give” and “let go, send”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus: omitte actūtum, furcifer, marsuppium, “let go of the purse at once, you scoundrel”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Omittere is first “to let go, release” from one's grasp or from custody, and “to let slip” a pursued enemy or an opportunity.^[2][3] It is “to discard” (Caesar: omissīs pīlīs gladiīs rem gerunt, “they threw away their javelins and fought with swords”), “to withdraw from, forsake”, “to give up a claim” (Cicero of a province) and “to leave off” an activity or feeling (Plautus: omitte īrātus esse, “stop being angry”).^[2][1] It is also “to disregard, pay no heed to” (omitte alia, hoc mihi respondē, “never mind the rest, answer me this”), “to pass over in speaking or writing”, used in paralipsis, and “to leave undone, neglect to”.^[2][1]

Döderlein contrasts intermittere, to leave off for a time, with omittere, to leave out altogether, quoting Varro: studia tantum intermittantur, nē omittantur, “let studies be interrupted only, not given up”.^[7] Church Latin glosses it “omit, leave undone”.^[8] English omit comes from it in the early 15th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: omitte … marsuppium;^[2][6] omitte īrātus esse.^[2][6]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it in paralipsis.^[2][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar: omissīs pīlīs.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as omit.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To let go, release; to let slip.^[2][3][1]
2. To discard, throw away.^[2]
3. To withdraw from, forsake.^[2]
4. To renounce, forgo (a claim).^[2]
5. To leave off, give up (an activity or feeling); with an infinitive, to stop.^[2][1]
6. To disregard, pay no heed to.^[2][1]
7. To pass over, omit (in speech or writing).^[2][1][8]
8. To leave undone, neglect (to).^[2][8]

Word family

• omissiō

Related words

• mittō
• intermittō
• dīmittō
• English omit

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson