English
intermittent
Intermittent comes from Latin intermittens ‘sending between’, and goes back to mittō ‘to send’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittōas mittere‘to send’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittens‘sending’next step skipped: Latin intermittō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintermittens‘sending between’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intermittent
- Englishearliest quotation 1564intermittent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittōas mittere‘to send’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittens‘sending’next step skipped: Latin intermittō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintermittens‘sending between’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intermittent
- Englishearliest quotation 1564intermittent
Earliest quotation: 1564, Philip Moore: “Also bloudletting is good in feuers, whether they be…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘change’
mean, common, community, met, communication, meal, minute, minister, ministry, communist, mutual, minor, immune, communicate, menu, compromise, min, mere, communism, ammunition, immunity, communal, mole, minus, communion, municipality, mural, ammo, mayhem, noodle, moor, commune, remuneration, monolith, meiosis, communiqué, minstrel, mite, mitosis, munition, 71 more
through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘exchange, remove’
miss, message, mad, mutant, mute, madden, transmutation, commutative, mutate, commutation, misnomer, mutable, molt, moult, 15 more
through Latin mittō ‘to send’
commission, mission, mess, committee, admit, commit, missile, dismiss, premise, transmit, emit, commissary, omit, amit, commissar, remiss, permissive, missive, 33 more
Today it means
adj Stopping and starting, occurring, or presenting at intervals; coming after a particular time span.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mittō / intermittent