Etymologically
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praetermitto

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯.tɛrˈmɪt.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pre.terˈmit.to][1]

Forms

praetermittō (present infinitive praetermittere, perfect active praetermīsī, supine praetermissum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin praeter- (“past”) + mittō (“to let go, send”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨mittō⟩ to Proto-Italic *meite/o- and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”), from which the senses “give” and then “let go, send” developed.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's examples begin with Cicero:[2] in the Pro Murena he asks his hearers to set aside Cato's authority.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to let pass, as Cicero who let no day go by, and in Statius to carry past.[6][2] It is to overlook or disregard, to leave out of a statement, as a word or words omitted, to fail to take an opportunity, as men who passed over honours for fear of danger, and to leave undone, as a parricide who seems to have left no crime undone.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “let pass, omit, neglect, overlook”.[7] English pretermit (1510s) comes from it.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of overlooking, omitting and neglecting.[2][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of carrying past.[2][5]
  • 1510s – English pretermit.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To let pass; to carry past.[2][1][6]
  2. To disregard, overlook.[2][1][7]
  3. To leave out, omit (to mention).[2][1]
  4. To let slip (an opportunity); to leave undone, neglect.[2][1][7]

Word family

  • praetermissiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson