Transmission

How to spell transmission

12 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce transmission

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does transmission mean?

1. nounThe act or process of sending or passing something on, such as a signal, data, message, or disease.
2. nounThe mechanical assembly in a vehicle that transfers power from the engine to the wheels.

Transmission in a sentence

• The radio transmission was interrupted by a sudden burst of static.

• The mechanic said the automatic transmission needed a full fluid change.

• Masks were intended to slow the transmission of the virus between people.

• A slipping transmission made the car hesitate when changing gears.

Where does transmission come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin transmissio, meaning 'a sending across' or 'a passage over', formed from the verb transmittere, which combined trans 'across' with mittere 'to send' or 'to let go'. That same mittere root is astonishingly productive in English, sitting inside 'mission', 'missile', 'permit', 'submit', and 'dismiss', all of which share the idea of sending or letting go. Transmission entered English in the early 1600s in the literal sense of handing something on, such as property, authority, or a message passed from one person to another. As technology advanced, the word naturally stretched to cover the sending of radio and television signals, the passing of disease from one host to another, and the mechanical assembly that sends engine power to the wheels. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the double 's' comes straight from the Latin miss element, so remembering 'mission' inside the word keeps both s letters in place.

How the word is built

• trans- (across)
• miss (from Latin mittere: to send)
• -ion (noun of action)