mitto Latin · revision 2972

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *m(e)ith₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmɪt.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmit.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mittō''' (present infinitive mittere, perfect active mīsī, supine missum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*meit-e/o-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*m(e)ith₂-|t=to exchange, remove]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The meaning would have moved from “to exchange” to “to give, bestow”, which is still seen in an Old Latin form [[m|la|mitat]], and then to “to let go, send”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The double ⟨tt⟩ is often explained from an older *mītere by the so-called littera rule, which de Vaan finds possible but unprovable.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD starts instead from *smeito, citing the gloss [[m|la|cosmittere]], but de Vaan thinks that single form too unreliable to build on.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Cognate with [[spx|meitims|t=monument]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) and further with [[got|𐌹𐌽𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=inmaidjan|t=to change]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD's first sense is to release or let go, as in Ennius' ''animam de corpore mitto'', “I let my soul go from my body”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its early senses are those of letting go: to release a person or an animal, to set free, to drop a subject (''mitte!'', “never mind!”), and to pass over in silence.^(OLD 2012) It meant to let fly a missile, to throw down, to give off smells or images, and to utter words.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The commonest sense became to [[m|en|send]] people, letters and goods, and poets said that lands “send” their products, as Virgil's ''India mittit ebur'', “India sends ivory”.^(OLD 2012) In the Romance languages it came to mean “to put”: French ''mettre'', Italian ''mettere'', Spanish and Portuguese ''meter''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for letting go.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for sending people.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses its derivative ''missile'', “missile”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil writes that India “sends” ivory.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – English takes ''mission'' from ''missio'', “a sending”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To let go, [[m|en|release]]; to set free.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To drop, give up; to pass over, say nothing of.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To throw, hurl, let fly (a [[m|en|missile]]); to throw down.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To give off, emit; to utter (sounds, words).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To stretch out, put (the hand).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|send]], dispatch (people, letters, goods).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(of lands)'' To produce, export.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To put (into a state).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[admittō]]

+ * [[āmittō]]

+ * [[antemittō]]

+ * [[circummittō]]

+ * [[committō]]

+ * [[dēmittō]]

+ * [[dīmittō]]

+ * [[ēmittō]]

+ * [[immittō]]

+ * [[intermittō]]

+ * [[intrōmittō]]

+ * [[missa]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mūtō]]

+ * [[mūtuus]]

+ * [[permitiēs]]

+ * [[meō]]

+ * [[en|mission]]

+ * [[en|missile]]

+ * [[en|message]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein contrasts ''mittere'', the general word for sending, with ''legare'', sending someone as an official representative.^(Döderlein 1874) Of its compounds, ''amittere'' is to lose something against one's will, ''dimittere'' to let it go after use, and ''omittere'' to pass it by on purpose.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}