mitto

Etymology

Likely from mītō via the so-called littera-rule, from Proto-Italic *meitō, from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“exchange, remove”), an extension of the root *mey- (“change”). From the original meaning “to exchange” a semantic shift occurred to “to give, bestow” and then “to let go, send”. Cognate to South Picene meitims, meitimúm (“monument”, nom. and acc. sg. respectively). External cognates include Sanskrit मेथेते (methete, “to become hostile, quarrel”), and Gothic 𐌹𐌽𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (inmaidjan, “to change”).^[1][2]

Based on the attested hapax legomenon cōsmittō for committō, some^[3] reconstruct the root with an initial s-, but De Vaan regards the hapax as not trustworthy enough.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmit.toː/, [ˈmɪt̪ːoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmit.to/, [ˈmit̪ːo]

Verb

mittō (present infinitive mittere, perfect active mīsī, supine missum); third conjugation

1. to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge
2. to put out, extend, reach out (one's hand)
3. to announce, tell, report, send word, advise
4. (chiefly poetic) to yield, furnish, produce, export
5. to put an end to
6. to let or bring out, put or send forth, send out, emit; let blood, bleed; utter a sound, speak, say

   Synonyms: ēmittō, iaciō

7. to throw, hurl, fling, cast, launch, send; throw down, sprinkle

   Synonyms: coniciō, iniciō, adiciō, obiciō, abiciō, permittō, iaciō, iactō, iaculor, impingō, ēmittō, trāiciō, lībrō

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.565–566:

     “Dēseruēre omnēs dēfessī, et corpora saltū
     ad terram mīsēre aut ignibus aegra dedēre.”

     “All [of my men], exhausted, had given up [the fight], and with a leap had flung [themselves] to the ground [below] or else consigned their weakened bodies to the flames.”
     (Syncopation: mīsēre, mīsēr[unt].)

8. to attend, guide, escort
9. to dedicate (a book or poem to someone to compliment them)
10. to dismiss, disregard
    • Vergil. Aeneid, VI, 85

      mitte hanc de pectore curam

      Dismiss this anxiety from your heart

11. (chiefly poetic) to pass over, forbear, cease

References

Further reading

• “mitto”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mitto”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mitto in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to send to meet a person: obviam alicui aliquem mittere
    
  • to speak, utter a sound: vocem mittere (sonitum reddere of things)
    
  • to dedicate a book to some one: librum mittere ad aliquem (Fin. 1. 3. 8)
    
  • to write a letter to some one: epistulam (litteras) dare, scribere, mittere ad aliquem
    
  • to send and consult the oracle at Delphi: mittere Delphos consultum
    
  • to turn some one out of the house: foras mittere aliquem
    
  • to send out colonists: colōnos mittere (Div. 1. 1. 3)
    
  • to discharge missiles: tela iacere, conicere, mittere
    
  • to send to the war: mittere ad bellum
    
  • (ambiguous) to live a happy (unhappy) life: vitam beatam (miseram) degere
    
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Etymology

A reduced form from Middle High German mittetac, from Old High German mittitac, from mitti (“middle”) + tac (“day”). Compare mitta (“Wednesday”).

Noun

mitto m

1. midday

References

• “mitto” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Adjective

mitto

1. blind