remisse

Forms

remissē (comparative remissius)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin remissus (“slack, relaxed”) + -ē.^[1][3][4] The adjective is the past participle of remittō (“to send back, slacken”), a compound of re- and mittō (“to send, let go”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[6] who has it of a line delivered without vehemence: quam leniter, quam remisse, quam non actuose!, “how gently, how calmly, how without action!”^[1]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of prose whose rhythm is loose rather than bound, of speaking calmly and without passion, of living more at ease, of treating someone mildly rather than severely, and pejoratively of pressing a matter with less force.^[1][7] Columella advises that a bailiff should give orders neither too slackly nor cruelly.^[1] Medieval British writers used it of something done less intensely and of a string sounding flat in pitch.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a calm style of speaking and of mild treatment.^[1][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of slack discipline.^[1][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Not tightly, loosely.^[1][9]
2. Without vehemence, calmly.^[1]
3. Unconstrainedly; not seriously, light-heartedly.^[1]
4. Slackly, half-heartedly; with lax discipline.^[1]
5. Mildly, leniently.^[1][7]
6. (Medieval Latin, of musical pitch) Flat.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.