manumitto Latin · revision 36573

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la manus, la mittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ma.nuːˈmɪt.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ma.nuˈmit.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''manūmittō''' (present infinitive manūmittere, perfect active manūmīsī, supine manūmissum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|manus|mittō|t1=hand, power|t2=to send, let go]]:^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) the ablative [[m|la|manū|t=from the hand]] and the verb were joined into one word, “to release from the hand”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) The verb [[m|la|mittō]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*meit-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*m(e)ith₂-|t=to exchange, remove]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it with its parts still apart, in the ''Aulularia'': ''ōrābō ut manū mē mittat'', “I will ask him to set me free”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the legal term for freeing a slave, releasing him from the master's power, ''manus'';^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Varro already uses it.^(Conte 2010) Earlier writers write it as one word or as two, but from Terence, the jurists and later authors it is always one word, as the nouns [[manūmissiō]] and [[manūmissor]] confirm.^(TLL) Cicero speaks of slaves freed on the advice of relatives,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Tacitus of slaves freed by will.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ English took it over in the early 15th century as [[m|en|manumit]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the phrase ''manū mittere'' for freeing a slave.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of slaves freed on the advice of relatives.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of slaves freed by will.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 15th century – English borrows it as [[m|en|manumit]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|free]] (a slave) from one's power, to [[m|en|manumit]], [[m|en|emancipate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[manūmissiō]]

+ * [[manūmissor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|manumit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrase can still be split by other words, as in Cicero's ''manū vērō cūr mīserit?'', “but why did he free them?”, and Livy's ''manū nōn mittere''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Isidore of Seville explained the participle as ''quasi manū ēmissus'', “as if sent out of the hand”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}