Émettre

Émettre is a French verb that chiefly means to send forth or to emit. It is used for literal emissions, such as light, sound, or radiation, and for figurative uses, such as issuing a claim, an opinion, doubt, or a message. The verb covers both physical transmission and the act of presenting or proposing something.

Émettre belongs to the -mettre family and is conjugated with forms that resemble other mettre-type verbs. In the present indicative the forms are: j'émets, tu émets, il émet, nous émettons, vous émettez, ils émettent. The past participle is émis, and the passé composé is formed with avoir: j'ai émis une opinion. The imperfect is émettais, émettait, émettions, émettiez, émettaient; the subjunctive present is que j'émette, que tu émettes, qu'il émette, que nous émettions, que vous émettiez, qu'ils émettent. The imperative forms are émettons and émettez.

In usage, émettre governs a wide range of constructions. Literally: émettre de la lumière, des ondes, ou un signal; metaphorically: émettre un avis, émettre un doute, émettre une hypothèse. In finance: émettre des actions (to issue shares) or émettre une dette (to issue debt). In broadcasting: une station émet sur une bande, c'est‑à‑dire transmet des ondes ou des programmes. The related noun émulsion is not related here; the common noun émission can mean a broadcast or an act of emitting, and émetteur designates the transmitter or broadcaster.

Etymology: from Latin emittere, via Old French emettre, with the prefix é- added to the root mittere (to send). The word thus retains the core sense of sending forth.