Latin Roots JECT and MIT/MISS: Throw and Send

Learn ject (throw) and mit/miss (send) and notice how one root changes spelling.

'Ject' comes from 'iacere', to throw. A projector throws an image forward onto a screen. To reject is to throw back. To eject is to throw out. An object was originally something thrown in front of you, something in your way. 'Mit' and 'miss' come from 'mittere', to send. To transmit is to send across; to submit is to send under someone's judgment; a mission is a sending, a task you are sent to do; a missile is something sent flying.

Notice that 'mit' and 'miss' are partners: 'admit' becomes 'admission', 'permit' becomes 'permission', 'transmit' becomes 'transmission'. The spelling changes when the suffix -ion is added, but the root, and its meaning, stays. In a sentence: 'The radio tower transmits signals, but bad weather can interrupt the transmission. ' Both words mean sending across, one as an action and one as the thing itself.

• 1JECT means throw.
• 2MIT and MISS both mean send.
• 3MIT often becomes MISS before -ion: permit, permission.