pretermit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to let pass without notice; disregard.
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to leave undone; neglect; omit.
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to suspend or interrupt.
The government temporarily pretermitted its repayments of foreign aid.
verb
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to overlook intentionally; disregard
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to fail to do; neglect; omit
Other Word Forms
- pretermission noun
- pretermitter noun
- unpretermitted adjective
Etymology
Origin of pretermit
1505–15; < Latin praetermittere to let pass, equivalent to praeter- preter- + mittere to let go, send
Explanation
To pretermit is to overlook or omit something. In an effort to make a family dinner pleasant, your parents might pretermit any discussions of sensitive or controversial issues that might lead to arguments. The verb pretermit is often used in a legal context, both for things that are accidentally left out and for those deliberately omitted. A person who neglects to update their will after having another child inadvertently pretermits that child from the will. A judge who refuses to consider a lawyer's motion in court because it was filed past the deadline pretermits the motion. Pretermit is from the Latin praetermittere and its roots, praeter, "past," and mittere, "to send."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Still the Inquisition did not entirely pretermit its labors.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles
The convention did not pretermit the duty of reiterating those principles, and you will find them prominently set forth in the resolutions it adopted.
From Sketches and Studies by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
I must, therefore, reluctantly pretermit all such matter—reserving for some other occasion the gratification of the public curiosity therein.
From Quodlibet by Kennedy, John Pendleton
This you must be pleased to let me have again, for I borrow it: for the other, I will pretermit no time to write it; though in good faith, I have half forgot it.
From Letters to Severall Persons of Honour by Donne, John
It cannot be demanded of me to pretermit, because of my crime, the duty more strongly required of me because of the crime.
From The Flight of the Shadow by MacDonald, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
