transmite

Forms

Verb: present transmit, third person transmite, simple perfect transmisei, past participle transmis; third conjugation.^[1][2] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 has the Latinist form transmittere.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French transmettre, also borrowed from Latin trānsmittō (“to send across, pass on”).^{[1][4][5][6][2]} The older dictionaries put the Latin first: Negulici and Pontbriant give the Latin verb as its source, and the Marcu–Maneca dictionary derives it from Latin and compares French.^[3][7][8] The Latin verb is formed from trāns (“across”) and mittō (“to send”);^[9] The French verb is a remodelling, after the Latin, of the older Old French trametre.^[9]

The word is a doublet of the inherited trimite “to send”, from the same Latin verb.^[2] Wiktionary lists admite, permite and promite as related verbs.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Negulici's dictionary of 1848, which spells it transmittere and defines it as to hand over one's possession or rights to another, and to pass something on to posterity.^[3] MDA2's first record is Maiorescu's Critice, from 1867.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The two senses Negulici gave, handing over a right or possession and passing something on to later generations, are still those of the law and of culture.^[3][5] The DLR quotes Bolliac and Gane for the cultural sense, and Caragiale for a dispatch sent on by telegraph.^[5][10]

Science and technology then added the transmission of energy, waves and motion, and radio and television the sense “to broadcast”.^[1][4] Reflexively it is said of feelings that pass from one person to another, as in fear that spreads.^[5][4]

Timeline

• 1848 – transmittere in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[3]
• 1862 – transmite in Pontbriant's dictionary, with French transmettre.^[7]
• 1867 – in Maiorescu's Critice, MDA2's first record.^[4]
• 1875 – Antonescu glosses it “to transmit, forward”.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To send or pass on something through a person, a letter and so on; to communicate, make known.^[1][4]
2. To broadcast, to send by radio, television or telegraph.^[1][4]
3. To hand on from person to person or from one generation to the next.^[1][4]
4. (law) To transfer a property or a right to another person.^[1][4]
5. (physics, technology) To carry energy, radiation or waves;^[1][4] (reflexive) to spread, propagate.^[1][4]
6. (technology) To pass a movement from one machine or part of a machine to another.^[1][4]

Related words

• admite
• permite
• promite
• trimite

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1138
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. transmittere
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1256
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. transmite
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. transmite
7. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 748
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. transmite
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 473
11. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 318