remitto

Forms

remittō (present infinitive remittere, perfect active remīsī, supine remissum); third conjugation^[1] An inscription spells the perfect subjunctive remeisserit.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin re- (“back”) + mittō (“to let go, send”).^[2][3][1][4] De Vaan derives mittō from Proto-Italic *meit-e/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[6] who uses it of sending a person back and of sending money in return: is argentum hūc remīsit, “he sent the money back here”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Remittere is “to send back” a person or thing, “to send in reply”, and “to give back”;^[2][3] repudium remittere is to send notice of breaking an engagement or of divorce.^[2][3] It is to throw back weapons (Caesar) and to return an echo (Virgil: vōcem lātē nemora alta remittunt, “the high woods send back the cry far and wide”).^[2] It is “to refer” a person or case to an authority, “to let go” the reins, “to release, spare” (Ennius: ubi remissā hūmānā vītā corpus requiēscat, “where, life let go, the body may rest”), and “to give out” a product or sound.^[2]

It also means “to slacken, loosen”, “to relax” body, face or mind (animum remittere), “to drop” a feeling or effort, and intransitively “to abate, ease off”.^[2][3][1] Finally it is “to concede, permit”, “to remit” a debt or punishment, “to forgive” an offence, and “to forgo”.^[2][1] Church Latin glosses it “remit, pardon, forgive, relax, send back, refer”.^[7] English remit, “to forgive”, comes from it in the late 14th century, and remiss, from the participle, in the early 15th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: is argentum hūc remīsit;^[2][6] repudium remīsit.^[2][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: remissā hūmānā vītā.^[2][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of throwing back javelins.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an echo.^[2][6]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as remit.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To send back; to send in reply; to give back.^[2][3][1][7]
2. To throw back; to send back (an echo).^[2]
3. To refer (a person or case).^[2][7]
4. To let go, release; to spare.^[2]
5. To give out, yield.^[2]
6. To slacken, loosen; to relax.^[2][3][1][7]
7. To drop, give up (a feeling or effort); to abate, ease off.^[2][1]
8. To concede, permit.^[2][1]
9. To remit, waive (a debt or punishment); to forgive.^[2][1][7]
10. To forgo.^[2][1]

Word family

• remissa
• remissibilis
• remissiō
• remissor

Related words

• mittō
• omittō
• English remit
• English remiss

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 r s t u v w x Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson