EtymologyMap
Back to all words

Trace the journey of words

Today it means

dismiss

to send someone away, remove them from a position, or reject an idea without consideration

Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate

Where does the word "dismiss" come from? It comes from Latin dimittere, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "dismiss" come from? It comes from Latin dimittere, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Dismiss’s story begins in Latin: dimittere meant “to send away.” To send away, from dis- (apart) and mittere (to send). It reached English by 1400s as dismiss. Settled as the English word for sending someone away or rejecting an idea. Today, dismiss means to send someone away, remove them from a position, or reject an idea without consideration.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient dimittere "to send away", to send away, from dis- (apart) and mittere (to send).
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s dismiss "to send someone away, or to reject an idea", settled as the English word for sending someone away or rejecting an idea.

Browse by origin