submissus

Forms

submissus (feminine submissa, neuter submissum, comparative submissior); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2] It is also spelled summissus.^[1][3][2]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle from Latin submittō (“to lower, let down”).^[1][2][4] That verb is a compound of sub- (“under”) and mittō (“to let go, send”),^[5] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *meit-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith2- (“to exchange, remove”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it from Cicero.^[7] In the speech for Flaccus he says he will speak in a low voice, just loud enough for the jurors to hear: summissa voce agam tantum ut iudices audiant.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is let down or lowered: the OLD and Georges have it of a lowered head in Ovid, of men in the second rank stooping lower in Livy, of a temple built lower than others, and of hair worn longer at the back to cover the neck in Suetonius.^[1][2][4] Of the voice it means low, not loud,^[1][2] and of a speaker or style quiet, plain and restrained: Cicero describes a speech as calm, subdued and gentle, placida, summissa, lenis, and the plain orator as summissus.^[1][4] Of persons and their words it means humble and submissive, and in a bad sense servile or grovelling:^[1][2] Hirtius has states expected to be more submissive after a recent defeat.^[1] In medieval Latin submissa persona was a person put forward in another's place, a deputy, dummy or accomplice.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a low voice and a plain style.^[1][7]
• c. 50 BC – Hirtius, of states made submissive by defeat.^[1][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of soldiers stooping in a lower position.^[1][2][7]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, of hair worn long.^[1][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Let down, lowered; low in position, stooping; of hair, worn long.^[1][2]
2. Of the voice: low, soft, not loud.^[1][2][4]
3. Of a speaker or style: quiet, restrained, plain.^[1][4]
4. Humble, submissive; servile, grovelling.^[1][2]
5. (Medieval Latin) submissa persona: a deputy, dummy, accomplice.^[8]

Related words

• submittō
• mittō

Usage notes

A separate fourth-declension noun submissus, -ūs, a sending in or introduction, is found once in Tertullian.^[2][3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill