submit

American  

[suhb-mit] / səbˈmɪt /

verb (used with object)

submitted, submitting

1. to give over or yield to the power or authority of another (often used reflexively).

   Synonyms:

   resign, agree, obey, bow, comply

   Antonyms:

   fight

2. to subject to some kind of treatment or influence.

3. to present for the approval, consideration, or decision of another or others.

   to submit a plan;

   to submit an application.

4. to state or urge with deference; suggest or propose (usually followed by a clause).

   I submit that full proof should be required.

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verb (used without object)

submitted, submitting

1. to yield oneself to the power or authority of another.

   to submit to a conqueror.

2. to allow oneself to be subjected to some kind of treatment.

   to submit to chemotherapy.

3. to defer to another's judgment, opinion, decision, etc..

   I submit to your superior judgment.

submit British  

/ səbˈmɪt /

verb

1. (often foll by to) to yield (oneself), as to the will of another person, a superior force, etc

2. (foll by to) to subject or be voluntarily subjected (to analysis, treatment, etc)

3. to refer (something to someone) for judgment or consideration

   to submit a claim

4. (tr; may take a clause as object) to state, contend, or propose deferentially

5. to defer or accede (to the decision, opinion, etc, of another)

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Usage

Where does submit come from? As we see in our Behind The Word on transfer, submit is an excellent example of how Latin roots can be found all over English vocabulary.Submit entered English around 1325–75. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin submittere, meaning “to lower, reduce, yield.” This Latin verb is composed of two parts. The first part is sub-, a combining form based on the preposition sub, meaning “under, below.” The second part is mittere, a verb meaning “to send,” often with the sense of “letting (something) go.” Fun fact: another sense of submittere in Latin was “to let grow,” as one does with their hair.Some of the most common senses of submit in English are “to turn in,” as one submits a homework assignment or document, and “to give in,” as one submits to the will of another.Back to the Latin roots. Latin combined mittere with a variety of its own prefixes to form new verbs, many of which made their way into English in the 1300s.

• admit (from Latin admittere, literally “to send to”; see ad-)
• commit (from Latin committere, literally “to send with”; see com-)
• demit (from Latin dēmittere, literally “to send down”; see de-)
• emit (from Latin ēmittere, literally “to send out”; see e-)
• intermit (from Latin intermittere, literally “to send between”; see inter-)
• intromit (from Latin intrōmittere, literally “to send in”; see intro-)
• omit (from Latin omittere, with a literal meaning of, roughly, “to send in the way of”; see o-)
• permit (from Latin permittere, literally “to send through”; see per-)
• pretermit (from Latin praetermittere, literally “to send past”; see preter-)
• remit (from Latin remittere, literally “to send back”; see re-)
• transmit (from Latin trānsmittere, literally “to send across”; see trans-)

Now, for sub-. Too many words to list here feature the prefix sub-, either as borrowed from Latin or formed in English. Below are just a few examples. Can you think of more?

• subatomic
• subliminal
• submarine
• submerge
• subside
• subterranean
• substitute

Dig deeperMany other English words contain sub-, but you might not know it at first glance. That’s due to a process called assimilation, which is when a sound becomes the same as or similar to a neighboring sound.Before sp, sub- becomes su-, as in suspect. Before c, sub- becomes suc-, as in succeed. Sub- becomes suf- before f (suffer), sug- before g (suggest), and sum- before m (summon). And just to be absolutely thorough, sub- becomes sup- before p, as in suppose, and sur- before r, as in surrogate.

Related Words

See yield.

Other Word Forms

• nonsubmissible adjective
• presubmit verb (used with object)
• resubmit verb
• submissible adjective
• submittable adjective
• submittal noun
• submitter noun
• submittingly adverb
• unsubmitting adjective

Etymology

Origin of submit

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English submitten, from Latin submittere “to lower, reduce, yield,” equivalent to sub- “under, below, beneath” + mittere “to send”; sub-

Example Sentences

My wife is fond of recounting her effort to explain to our son, then in the sixth grade, that he needed to rework a first draft of a paper before submitting it.

From The Wall Street Journal

On Dec. 30, the company announced that it had submitted a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration for bezuclastinib in patients with non-advanced systemic mastocytosis, a rare blood disorder.

From Barron's

Until the fall, each of the four short-answer essays Virginia Tech applicants submit was read and scored by two people.

From Los Angeles Times

During one of her last shows, she played tracks submitted by musicians from across the UK after putting a message out on socials.

From BBC

Prospective readers no longer have to identify themselves and submit an application explaining their purpose, though they still must visit public libraries to view a copy.

From Barron's

Related Words

• propose
• put
• refer
• suggest
• table
• urge