remit

Imagine your grandmother lives far away and wants to help with your college expenses. She might remit money to you, meaning she sends it, often through a bank or transfer service. But remit is not only about money. It can also mean to send a case or problem to another person or group to deal with. For example, a judge might remit a case to a lower court for further review. It can also mean to give someone a duty to handle, and as a noun, a person's or committee's remit is the area they are responsible for. At its heart, the word often carries the idea of sending something on or placing it in someone else's hands.

The word "remit" has several related meanings built around the idea of sending, handing over, or releasing. In one common modern use, it means to send money, often across borders. If you are working abroad and sending part of your earnings home to your family, you are remitting funds.

However, remit also has an important formal use in legal and organizational contexts: to send a task, question, or case to another person or body for decision or action. A higher court might remit a case back to a lower court for reconsideration, handing over the next stage of proceedings. In a similar way, an official may remit a matter to a committee, board, or agency. As a noun, a committee's remit is its assigned area of authority or responsibility.

Beyond sending and assigning, remit can also mean to cancel or reduce a debt, penalty, or punishment. A court may remit a fine, and in historical or religious language, people may speak of sins being remitted, meaning forgiven. In medicine, a disease may remit, meaning it becomes less severe for a time. Whether you are discussing money, legal procedure, official duties, or the lifting of a burden, remit usually points to one of these ideas: sending something on, putting it into someone else's care, or releasing someone from what is owed or suffered.