remissio

Forms

remissiō f (genitive remissiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin remittō (“to send back, let go, relax”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1] The verb is re- with mittō (“to send, let go”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *meit-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”), the sense passing from exchanging to giving and letting go.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] and its first example in the OLD is the Rhetorica ad Herennium, where easing off from continuous shouting saves the voice.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a sending back, as of hostages and captives in Livy, a reflection of light in Vitruvius, and a letting go or release.^[2][6] It also means a slackening or lowering, as of the eyebrows, a softening of the eyes' expression, and relaxation of the mind from cares, which Cicero says comes above all from friendly conversation.^[2] It is the easing off of a condition, as of an illness, and the remission or cancellation of a debt, penalty or work, as Varro advises to make workers keener by remitting work.^[2]

In Church Latin it is the remission of sins, forgiveness, absolution or pardon, and medieval Latin keeps this sense.^[7][8][1] Glossaries render it with Ancient Greek ἄφεσις (áphesis, “release, forgiveness”).^[3] English borrowed remission about 1200, first in the sense forgiveness of sins.^[9]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of easing off from shouting.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of relaxing the eyebrows and the mind.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of remitting work.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of sending back hostages.^[2][5]
• c. 1200 – Borrowed into English as remission.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sending back; reflection of light.^[2][6][1]
2. A letting go, release.^[2][1]
3. A slackening, lowering, softening.^[2][1]
4. Relaxation of the mind, recreation; mildness.^[2][1]
5. An easing off, abatement, especially of an illness.^[2][1]
6. Remission or cancellation of a debt or penalty.^[2]
7. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Forgiveness of sins, absolution, pardon.^[7][8][1]

Related words

• remittō
• mittō
• English remission

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ 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 d e 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com