Etymologically
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remissus

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Forms

remissus (feminine remissa, neuter remissum, comparative remissior, superlative remississimus); first/second-declension adjective[1][2] The superlative is perhaps found only in Suetonius.[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of remittō (“to send back, slacken”), used as an adjective.[1][2] The verb is formed from re- and mittō (“to send, let go”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,[4] who reports the actor Roscius' plan to make the flute's measures slower and his songs gentler in old age.[1]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is slack, not drawn tight, as Manilius' drooping tongue, and of columns, spaced out (Vitruvius).[1] Of sound, activity and style it means gentle and relaxed, and of persons free and easy, light-hearted.[1] It also means not exerting oneself, easy-going or slack, as when Cicero's opponents thought him too casual in canvassing, and lenient towards others, as Cicero's senate that was milder than it should have been.[1] Of conditions it is moderate, as Caesar's milder winters in Britain, of remedies weak in action (Pliny the Elder), of a valuation low, and in Celsus of a patient free from fever.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of gentler songs and of a lenient senate.[1][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of milder cold.[1][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus of a patient free from fever.[1][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Slack, not drawn tight; spaced out.[1][2]
  2. Gentle, relaxed, mild; of persons, free and easy.[1][2]
  3. Easy-going, careless, slack.[1][2]
  4. Lenient, forbearing.[1]
  5. Not intense, moderate; of remedies, weak; of a valuation, low; of a patient, free from fever.[1]

Usage notes

Niermeyer records a medieval remissus that is a variant of emissus “deceitful”, apparently understood as “subordinate”.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill