remission

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A pardon of a sin; (chiefly historical, also figuratively) the forgiveness of an offence, or relinquishment of a (legal) claim or a debt.

   “Moreouer the perfit beleue of this article, worketh in all true chriſten people, aloue to continue in this vnitie, and afeare to be caſte out of the ſame, and it worketh in them that be ſinners and repentant, great comforte, and conſolacion, to obteine remiſſion of ſinne, by vertue of Chriſtes paſſion, and adminiſtracion of his ſacramentes at the miniſters handes, ordained for that purpoſe, […]”

   “Remiſsion of ſins is giuen to all the elect, and them alone, becauſe it is giuen to them all and alone who beleeue; and none beleeue, but the elect onely; for the reprobate neuer haue true faith and beleefe: therefore they neuer obtaine remiſsion of their ſinnes.”

   “So then it is not the Power of preaching and baptizing, which is here given the Apoſtles, but as the Fathers interpret the Place, a peculiar Power of pronouncing, as God's deputed Judges, Pardon and Remiſſion to the Penitent, a Power of abſolving from Sins, in the Name of God, all ſuch as penitently confeſs unto them: […]”

   “And as to the remission of the interest of the debt of the Company, the right hon. gentleman knew, that public policy and expediency rendered a remission of the interests of all the debts due to the public equally necessary.”

   “And it be further enacted, That if it shall appear to the comptroller that any payments of quit rents or certificates given for the remission of quit rent in pursuance of any former law of the state shall have been credited by mistake to the wrong patent or lot, […] it shall be the duty of the comptroller on discovering the same, to rectify all such mistakes […]”

2. (countable, uncountable)A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.

   “Preceptors have all aſſented to this one principle,—that diſcipline , and amuſement ſhould alternately ſucceed each other. […] You may relax your care, but the youthful mind will be full occupied, and more earneſtly buſied in the career of voluntary play, than on any impoſed taſk. During the remiſſions of ſchool the mind is only tranſferred from one object to another: […]”

   “His objection, at an early period of the session, to the motion of the hon. member for Wareham, besides the general objection at that time to the remission of any taxes, was, that it would throw the trade into confusion by a partial remission. The remission he had now to propose was to a much greater extent.”

   “This gentleman in March, 1833, was applied to by Messrs. Charles and George Palmer, who solicited a remission of the annual jumma or tax upon their farms, to the amount of 24,000 rupees. Mr. [Alexander] Imlach, who, […] was at least acquainted with, and acted up to the spirit of the law, expressed his incompetency to grant the remission.”

   “In every polysyllabic word, there is a sharpened percussion of the voice on some one of the syllables, and a comparative remission on the rest. This percussion was called by the Greeks the acute accent, and the remission, the grave accent.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.

   “That Mr. Carstairs answer all interrogatories that shall be put to him, betwixt and the first of October next, upon his great oath. That which being done, he shall have his majesty's full pardon and remission, for his life, limb, estate, and fame.”

   “At common law, the criminal was bound to assyth the party whom he had injured; no special statute was necessary to establish a point received and understood; but a doubt might be entertained, how far crimes were not entirely abolished by a remission, so as not only to stop the punishment of the law, but to exclude the claim of damages. To obviate this doubt was the intention of these various statutes, which provide that assythment shall be due, notwithstanding a remission.”

4. (countable, uncountable)A lessening of amount due, as in either money or work, or intensity of a thing.

   “Her cancer was in remission.”

   “It was always dangerous, though perhaps leſs ſo, than other ſymptoms which was leſs alarming, particularly if it ſuffered increaſe and diminution with the paroxyſms and remiſſions of the diſeaſe.”

   “When Dr. Willis speaks of relapses, does he mean relapses after a cessation of the disorder, or after a remission of the disorder?—Certainly after a remission, his Majesty's disorder has never ceased.”

   “Sometimes also slow fevers infest the body without any remission, so that there is no time afforded either for food or physic.”

   “Yet again, in true general paralysis, remissions occur, and in these remissions most of the pupillary symptoms disappear, to return with the onset of fresh activity of the disease.”

5. (countable, uncountable)An act of remitting, returning, or sending back.
6. (countable, uncountable)An act of remitting, returning, or sending back.

   “It was held by the Court of Errors and Appeals that the remission of the case to the trial court for clarification of the verdict was justified, and that the record, as corrected, clearly indicated that the recommendation of life imprisonment should apply only to Rannelli and not to Merra.”

7. (countable, uncountable)Reflection or back-scattering of light by a material; (to send back)

verb

1. (transitive)To change the mission of; to provide with a new mission.

   “The Strykers have been remissioned, actually, to a mission of road security that actually takes advantage of the mobility that they provide.”

   “Their original mission was reestablished. That is what happens to people who will allow God to remission their lives through His blood cleansing them.”