committo

Committo is a Latin verb meaning to entrust, commit, or join. It is used with direct objects to indicate that something is placed under someone’s responsibility, and it is commonly accompanied by a recipient expressed in the dative case. In its broad sense it can also mean to join, to commit to a course of action, or to commit something to memory.

Etymology

The word derives from the prefix com- meaning together and mitto meaning to send or let go. The sense of sending together or entrusting underlies the various usages of the verb in Latin and later influenced related terms in other languages.

Usage

In Classical Latin, committo is a transitive verb of the third conjugation. It typically governs a thing in the accusative and a person in the dative, conveying the act of entrusting or committing something to someone. It can also denote committing to a task, a plan, or a fate. The sense “to commit a crime” is common in Latin as well, often phrased with the compound verb form committere. The reflexive form se committere means to engage oneself in an undertaking or to commit oneself to a course of action.

Derivatives and influence

The verb gives rise to the English noun commitment and the verb to commit, both formed from the same Latin roots. In medieval and modern Latin texts, committo appears in phrases related to entrusting duties, responsibilities, or vows, illustrating the broad semantic field of entrustment and obligation.

See also

Latin grammar; verbs of entrustment; mitto family.