What does "remit" mean?
Terms of reference; set of responsibilities; scope.
Remit
/ɹɪˈmɪt/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Terms of reference; set of responsibilities; scope.
- Grammar: remit is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: responsibility, abate, abated, absolve.
- Useful contrasts: collect, decide locally, dishes.
- Usage evidence: May we ask you to remit the settlement in full at your earliest convenience?
How to use "remit"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "remit" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "remit" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "remit" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "remit" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "remit" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "responsibility" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "remit", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Terms of reference; set of responsibilities; scope. British
"WHO/TDR should prepare a volume containing ... important issues in the performance of studies that fall outside of the GLP remit."
- 2 (law) the act of remitting (especially the referral of a law case to another court) wordnet
- 3 A communication from a superior court to a subordinate court.
- 4 the topic that a person, committee, or piece of research is expected to deal with or has authority to deal with wordnet
Verb
- 1 To transmit or send (e.g. money in payment); to supply. transitive
"Such a Step as this would raise a Succession of able Seamen, and in a few Years would come to remit a thousand, or perhaps two or three thousand sturdy Youths every Year into the general Class of English Seamen;"
- 2 diminish or abate wordnet
- 3 To forgive, pardon (a wrong, offence, etc.). transitive
"Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal Remit thy other forfeits."
- 4 make slack as by lessening tension or firmness wordnet
- 5 To refrain from exacting or enforcing; to cancel. transitive
"to remit the performance of an obligation"
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 forgive wordnet
- 7 To give up; omit; cease doing. obsolete, transitive
"1761, George Colman, The Genius, No. 12, 19 November, 1761, in Prose on Several Occasions, London: T. Cadel, 1787, p. 124, Among our own sex, there is no race of men more apt to indulge a spirit of acrimony, and to remit their natural Good Humour, than authors."
- 8 refer (a matter or legal case) to another committee or authority or court for decision wordnet
- 9 To allow (something) to slacken, to relax (one's attention etc.). transitive
"Our Supream Foe in time may much remit His anger,"
- 10 release from (claims, debts, or taxes) wordnet
- 11 To show a lessening or abatement (of a specified quality). intransitive, obsolete
"Great Alexander in the midst of all his prosperity […], when he saw one of his wounds bleed, remembered that he was but a man, and remitted of his pride."
- 12 send (money) in payment wordnet
- 13 To diminish, abate. intransitive, obsolete
"[The water] sustains these Particles, and carries them on together with it ’till such time as its Motion begins to remit and be less rapid than it was at, and near its Source;"
- 14 hold back to a later time wordnet
- 15 To refer (something or someone) for deliberation, judgment, etc. (to a particular body or person). transitive
"[...] in grieuous and inhumane crimes, in such as ouerthrow the foundation of state, in such as shake the surety of humane society, I conceiue it more fit that offenders should be remitted to their Prince to be punished in the place where they haue offended."
- 16 To send back. obsolete, transitive
- 17 To give or deliver up; surrender; resign. archaic, transitive
"Princess of France. What, will you have me, or your pearl again? Biron. Neither of either; I remit both twain."
- 18 To restore or replace. transitive
"[…] he bad the Lyon be remitted Into his seate, and those same treachours vile Be punished for their presumptuous guile."
- 19 To postpone. transitive
- 20 To refer (someone to something), direct someone's attention to something. obsolete, transitive
"1668, Joseph Glanvill, Plus Ultra, or, The Progress and Advancement of Knowledge since the Days of Aristotle, London: James Collins, Preface, These are the things I thought fit to premise to my Discourse, to which now I remit your Eyes, without adding more …"
Example
"May we ask you to remit the settlement in full at your earliest convenience?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "remit"?
Common synonyms include: responsibility, abate, abated, absolve, absolve, absolving.
How do you use "remit" in a sentence?
May we ask you to remit the settlement in full at your earliest convenience?
How do you pronounce "remit"?
Pronounced /ɹɪˈmɪt/.
Etymology
From Middle English remitten, from Latin remittere (“to send, send back”). Compare Old French remettre, remetre, remitter.