Submission

How to spell submission

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce submission

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does submission mean?

1. nounThe act of yielding to the authority, will, or control of another.
2. nounSomething formally presented for consideration, such as a document, application, or entry.
3. nounIn wrestling or martial arts, a hold that forces an opponent to concede defeat.

Submission in a sentence

• The rebels were eventually beaten into submission by the larger army.

• The journal rejected his submission because it exceeded the word limit.

• He won the bout with a submission in the second round.

• Her quiet submission to every demand surprised the negotiators.

• Each submission to the design contest had to include a budget.

• The fighter tapped out, conceding the submission to her rival.

Where does submission come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Submission traces back to the Latin verb submittere, which combined sub, meaning 'under', with mittere, meaning 'to send' or 'to put'; literally it described placing something or oneself underneath. The derived noun submissio meant a lowering or a yielding, and that sense of bringing oneself low before a stronger power carried the word into Old French as soumission. English adopted it in the late 1300s, first in the sense of humble obedience or surrender to authority. Over the centuries the meaning broadened so that one could make a submission of a document, an argument, or a proposal, that is, formally 'send it under' the consideration of a judge or committee. The buried miss root, the same one found in mission, transmit, and missile, all built on mittere 'to send', explains the double s in the middle that writers sometimes drop.

How the word is built

• sub- (under)
• miss (from mittere: to send, put)
• -ion (noun of action)