English
remission
Remission comes from Old French remission ‘forgiveness of sin’, from Late Latin remittō ‘to remit, send back’, and ultimately from Latin mittō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō1‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEremittō2‘to remit, send back’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEremissiō2‘forgiveness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400remission2‘forgiveness of sin’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400remission2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remissioun2‘release from duty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1543remission2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin remitto
- 2 Wiktionary, English remission
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1543, Henry VIII of England, The Nynthe Article. The Holy Catholike Churche.: “Moreouer the perfit beleue of this article, worketh in…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittōWiktionary, Latin remitto‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEremittōWiktionary, English remission‘to remit, send back’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEremissiōWiktionary, English remission‘forgiveness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400remissionWiktionary, English remission‘forgiveness of sin’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400remissionWiktionary, English remission
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remissiounWiktionary, English remission‘release from duty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1543remissionWiktionary, English remission. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1543, Henry VIII of England, The Nynthe Article. The Holy Catholike Churche.: “Moreouer the perfit beleue of this article, worketh in…”
The story
Remittō is derived from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mittō (‘to cause to go; to send; to discharge, emit, let go, release; to throw; to extend, reach out; to announce, tell; to produce, yield; to attend, escort, guide; to dismiss, disregard; to end’) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (‘to change, exchange; to change places, go past’) or *(s)meyt- (‘to throw’)). The English word is cognate with Catalan remissió, Italian remissioni, remissione (‘remission; withdrawal of legal action; compliance, submission’), Old Occitan remessió, Portuguese remisson, remissão (‘pardon; remission’), Spanish remisión (‘remission’).
Linked words
through Old Latin mītō
commissariat, unremitting, 22 more
through Latin mittō ‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go,…’
committee, admit, mess, commit, commission, permission, transmission, transmit, missile, dismiss, admission, intermittent, submission, premise, omit, emit, amit, commissary, omission, commissar, permissive, missive, 28 more
through Late Latin remittō ‘to remit, send back’
Today it means
noun A pardon of a sin; (chiefly historical, also figuratively) the forgiveness of an offence, or relinquishment of a (legal) claim or a debt.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “remission”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin remitto. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin mittō / remission