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Origin and history of remiss

remiss(adj.)

early 15c., remis, remisse, "weak, dissolved, loose, slack, lacking in force or energy;" mid-15c., of conduct, "characterized by lack of strictness or due restraint;" also, of persons, "slack in the discharge of a task or duty, characterized by negligence," from Latin remissus "relaxed, languid; negligent," past participle of remittere "slacken, abate, let go" (see remit). Related: Remissly; remissness.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to remiss

remit(v.)

late 14c., remitten, "to forgive, pardon," from Latin remittere "send back, slacken, let go back, abate," from re- "back" (see re-) + mittere "to send" (see mission). Secondary senses predominate in English.

From c. 1400 as "refer for consideration or performance from one person or group to another;" early 15c. as "send to prison or back to prison." The meaning "allow to remain unpaid, refrain from exacting" (penalty, punishment, etc.) is from mid-15c. Meaning "send money (to someone) in payment" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Remitted; remitting.

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    Trends of remiss

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    derelict
    1640s, "left, abandoned by the owner or guardian," from Latin derelictus "solitary, deserted," past participle of dereliquere "to abandon, forsake, desert," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + relinquere "leave behind, forsake, abandon, give up," from re- "back" (see re-) + linquere
    laches
    zeal" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French laches, Old French lachesse "lawlessness, remissness," from Old French lasche "lax, remiss...
    slack
    persons, "indolent, lazy;" also (from c. 1300), of things or parts, "loose, not tight or taut;" from Old English slæc "remiss...Formerly common in depreciative compounds such as slack-jawed (q.v.), slack-handed "remiss, negligent" (1670s)....
    slake
    Middle English slaken, from late Old English sleacian, slacian "become slack or remiss; relax an effort" (intransitive);...
    pivot
    "pin on which a wheel or other object turns," 1610s, from French pivot, from Old French pivot "hinge pin, pivot" (12c.), also "penis," a word of uncertain origin. Pevetsheres, evidently some kind of shears, is mentioned in a will registered in York in 1398. Figurative sense of "t
    woman
    "adult female human," late Old English wimman, wiman (plural wimmen), literally "woman-man," alteration of wifman (plural wifmen) "woman, female servant" (8c.), a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being" (in Old English used in reference to both sexes; see man (n.))
    eerie
    also eery, c. 1300, "timid, affected by superstitious fear," north England and Scottish variant of Old English earg "cowardly, fearful, wretched; slow, indolent, useless," from Proto-Germanic *arh- (source also of Old Frisian erg "evil, bad," Middle Dutch arch "bad," Dutch arg, O
    dwell
    Old English dwellan "to lead into error, deceive, mislead," related to dwelian "to be led into error, go wrong in belief or judgment," from Proto-Germanic *dwaljana "to delay, hesitate," *dwelana "go astray" (source also of Old Norse dvelja "to retard, delay," Danish dvæle “to li
    hysteria
    nervous disease, 1801, coined in medical Latin as an abstract noun from Greek hystera "womb," from PIE *udtero-, variant of *udero- "abdomen, womb, stomach" (see uterus). Originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the

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