Etymology of 'remit' {noun}?

Question

I understand the definition of remit; so I am not asking about it. I just want to delve in deeper. I also recognise the Etymological Fallacy and its various drawbacks.
So how should I interpret or rationalize its etymology, in order to intuit or naturalise it, and to help me remember?

1. remit = [chiefly British] The task or area of activity officially assigned to an individual or organization
2. An item referred to someone for consideration
Etymonline: late 14c., "to forgive, pardon," from Latin remittere "send back, slacken, let go back, abate," from re- "back" (see re-) + mittere "to send" (see mission). Meaning "allow to remain unpaid" is from mid-15c. Meaning "send money (to someone)" first recorded 1630s. Related: Remitted; remitting.

For instance, how does re- fit the 2 definitions above? Both refers someTHING NEW to someONE NEW. Yet back implies a reappraisal; so what's sent back?
Footnote: I encountered remit, in the last sentence, of the last para, of p 7 of 16 here.

Phil H · Accepted Answer

As a native British English speaker, I have a vague preference for stressing the first syllable for #1: "I have a wide REmit", and stressing the second for something related to remittance ("the Court of Session may accept a reMIT").

A memory aid could be:

REmit is like GAmut; this is the stuff encompassed by a job, like a gamut is the colours encompassed by a printer.
reMIT is like a reTURN in tennis, a court can agree to a reMIT and thus a reTURN of the case to a lower court. As "a return" is to
"I return", so "A remit" is to "I remit".

Johanne Fecteau-Bouchard · Answer

I am a french native speaker so remit for me is really close to the Latin origin. In french remette is to "give back" or "send back". We use remit frequently at my workplace when an entity or an organization have asked something from us, be it mandatory periodical reports, review of draft documents, etc, and is used pretty much in a "deliverable" sense. We also use remit as in "area of responsibility" as in "within our remit" but I always understood that in the same manner as what the "deliverable" would require. For example, a committee or an organisation that is created with the purpose of studying something and creating a report, or for establishing policies or instructions on a specific topic, or for creating an output of some sort. The deliverable or output would dictate their scope of responsibility hence the expression "within our remit". This use of remit is based on a mandate given to an organization or individual to produce a specific outcome or output that they have to "give back" or "send back" to whoever gave them the mandate. I may be off based but that is how I interpret the usage based on its etymology.

Answered by Johanne Fecteau-Bouchard on August 23, 2021

Etymology of 'remit' {noun}?

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