English
transmit
Transmit comes from Latin trānsmittō, and goes back to mittō ‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go,…’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsmittōliterally ‘across-send’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500transmitten
- Englishearliest quotation 1960transmit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsmittōliterally ‘across-send’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500transmitten
- Englishearliest quotation 1960transmit
Earliest quotation: 1960, The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.: “The tractive and braking forces are transmitted to the…”
The story
From Middle English transmitten, borrowed from Latin trānsmittō (“transmit”, verb, literally “across-send”).
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *meitō ‘to put forth, put out’
remission, unremitting, 20 more
through Old Latin mītō
permission, admission, submission, emission, omission, remit, commissariat, 22 more
through Latin mittō ‘to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go,…’
commission, committee, mission, mess, admit, missile, commit, premise, dismiss, intermittent, emit, commissary, permissive, omit, amit, commissar, remiss, missive, 33 more
Today it means
verb To send or convey from one person, place or thing to another.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mittō / transmit