Submit

v. Also 4–6 -mytte, (4 pa. t. -mytte, 5 pa. pple. -mytt), 5 mett, 5–6 -myt, 5–7 -mitte, 6–7 -mitt. [ad. L. submittĕre, var. of summittĕre (see SUMMIT v.), f. sub- SUB- 2 + mittĕre to send, put; cf. OF. soub-, submetre, later var. of sousmetre (see SUB- p. 3/1 note), mod.F. soumettre, and Pr. sob-, sotzmetre, It. sommettere beside sottomettere, Sp. someter, Pg. submetter.]

  I.  1. refl. and intr. To place oneself under the control of a person in authority or power; to become subject, surrender oneself, or yield to a person or his rule, etc.

  † a.  Const. under; refl. only. Obs.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., II. pr. v. (Camb. MS.). Syn ye demen þat tho fowlest thinges ben yowre goodys, thanne submitten [v.r. summytten] ye and putten yowre selven vndyr the fowleste thinges by yowre estimacion.

1471.  Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 603/22. Sayng that they wold not submytte hem so many noble men vnder the strengthe of one man.

1535.  Coverdale, Gen. xvi. 9. Returne to thy mastresse agayne, and submitte thyself vnder hir hande.

1574.  trans. Bale’s Pag. Popes, Ep. Ded. *d iv b. Although they were more in number,… yet woulde submitte them selues vnder their power, as though they were the inferiours.

1601.  R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 109. They were enforced to submitte themselues vnder the protection of the Florentines.

  b.  Const. to († unto) a person, his government, rule, will, etc.

  (a)  refl.  c. 1386.  Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 854. We submytten vs to the excellence and benignitee of youre gracious lordshipe.

1411.  Rolls of Parlt., III. 650/1. On whom, and to his ordenance, the forsaid Lord the Roos and Robert hadden submytted hem.

1490.  Caxton, Eneydos, xxii. 80. After that this dydo had vtterly submytted & dedicate her-self to eneas.

1526.  Tindale, Eph. v. 22. Wemen submit youre selves vnto youre awne husbandes, as vnto the lorde.

1535.  Coverdale, 1 Chron. xxix [xxx]. 24. All kynge Dauids children submytted themselues vnto kynge Salomon.

1652.  Hobbes, Leviathan, II. xvii. 88. When a man maketh his children, to submit themselves … to his government.

1686.  trans. Chardin’s Trav. Persia, 149. He did not come and submit himself to him.

1859.  Geo. Eliot, Adam Bede, lii. We must submit ourselves entirely to the Divine Will.

1909.  ‘J. Oxenham,’ Great-Heart Gillian, xxvii. Submit yourself quietly to the law.

  (b)  intr.  c. 1450.  Sir R. Ros, La Belle Dame, 234. I am hoole submytt to your seruise.

1608.  Shaks., Per., II. iv. 39. Your noble selfe … Wee thus submit vnto.

1652.  in Cromwellian Union (1902), 4. Several Troops of the Tories that are submitting to the Parliament.

1667.  Milton, P. L., X. 196. To thy Husbands will Thine shall submit.

1745.  Butler, Serm., Wks. 1874, II. 284. Children … are … habituated … to submit to those who are placed over them.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xii. III. 152. After the flight of James, those troops submitted to the Prince of Orange.

1877.  Froude, Short Stud. (1883), IV. I. iii. 34. He despatched a legate … to tell Becket that he must … submit to the king’s pleasure.

  c.  Without const.: To yield, surrender, be submissive.

  (a)  refl.  c. 1440.  Partonope, 4621 (Univ. Coll. MS.). Myne heede ys naked, and I Submytte me.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. xviii. t. Whosoever … shall submit him silfe.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 659. [They] came humbly and submitted themselues.

1595.  Shaks., John, II. i. 159. Submit thee boy.

1638.  R. Baker, trans. Balzac’s Lett. (vol. II.), 13. The persecutors of those who submit themselves.

  (b)  intr.  1575.  Gascoigne, Kenelworth, Wks. 1910, II. 93. Even gates and all … submitte and seeke your sheelde.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., III. iii. 143. What must the King doe now: must he submit?

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 108. Courage never to submit or yield.

1792.  Almon, Anecd. W. Pitt, III. xliv. 198. A Prince of the House of Savoy had his property seized by him: the injured Prince would not submit.

1852.  Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xviii. 175. ‘Miss Marie,’ as Dinah always called her young mistress,… found it easier to submit than contend.

1871.  Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. 164. That the greater part of the shire submitted easily after the fall of the Capital.

  2.  To surrender oneself to judgment, criticism, correction, a condition, treatment, etc.; to consent to undergo or abide by a condition, etc.

  (a)  refl.  c. 1430.  Lydg., Min. Poems (E.E.T.S.), I. 62. I me submytte to all that schall now heer This symple processe of my translacyoun.

c. 1430.  Stans Puer ad Mensam, 99 (Lamb. MS.). I submitte me to correccioun withoute ony debate.

1471.  Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 367/2. That ye submette yow into theyr obeyssance.

1565.  Allen, Def. Purg., To Rdr. 6 b. I humbly submit my selfe to the iudgement of suche oure masters in faithe and religion, [etc.].

1577–87.  Holinshed, Chron., III. 2/2. To submit themselues to bondage.

1594.  Kyd, Cornelia, IV. i. 160. Shall we then … Submit vs to vnurged slauerie?

1607.  Shaks., Cor., III. iii. 44. If you submit you to the peoples voices.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 122. I submitted my selfe to these conditions.

1621.  Bacon, in Jrnl. Ho. Lords, III. 84/2. [I] submit myself wholly to your Piety and Grace.

1629.  Sc. Acts Chas. I. (1870), V. 197. The saids persouns … did submitt thame selffes to ws and ar bound to stand and abyde at our determinatioun.

1635.  F. White, Sabbath-day, 101 (T.). Christian people submit themselves to conformable observance of the lawful & religious constitutions of their spiritual Rulers.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IX. 919. Submitting to what seemd remediless.

1819.  Scott, Leg. Montrose, viii. ‘May Heaven,’ he said,… ‘judge between our motives.’… ‘Amen,’ said Montrose; ‘to that tribunal we all submit us.’

1913.  Times, 11 Aug., 3/1. The majority of cases would voluntarily submit themselves to treatment.

  (b)  intr.  1628.  Feltham, Resolves, II. v. 11. A man that submits to reuerent Order.

1686.  trans. Chardin’s Coronat. Solyman, 110. To which reasons of his sister the Prince submitted.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 2 Aug. 1665. That the meanes to obtaine remission of punishment was not to repine at it, but humbly submit to it.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 115, ¶ 1. Bodily Labour … which a Man submits to for his Livelihood.

1758.  J. Dalrymple, Ess. Feudal Property (ed. 2), 48. Perhaps the nobles more easily submitted to the uncertainty of relief.

1781.  Cowper, Expost., 633. Prove it—if better, I submit and bow.

1802.  Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T. (1816), I. 212. I must know my crime, before I submit to punishment.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. III. ii. Healing measures … such as … all men must, with more or less reluctance, submit to.

1874.  Mozley, Univ. Serm., ix. (1877), 200. To submit to trials for our own discipline.

  transf.  1658.  Sir T. Browne, Hydriot., ii. (1736), 21. That Metal soon submitteth unto Rust and Dissolution.

  † b.  Const. to with inf. or gerund: To yield so far as to do so-and-so, consent to; occas. to condescend to. Obs.

  (a)  refl.  c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 457. Þei submytten hem to be correctid.

1444.  Cov. Leet Bk., 203. Submittyng themselffe with due submission to abyde the rule of the maiour.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxi. 246. I submyt my selfe to receyue suche dethe that ye & youre barons can deuyse.

1549.  Coverdale, etc., Erasm. Par. Gal. vi. 4, 5. If he submitte him selfe to restore him againe.

  (b)  intr.  c. 1386.  Chaucer, Man Law’s Prol., Introd. 35. Ye been submytted thurgh youre free assent To stonden in this cas at my Iuggement.

1667.  Milton, P. L., XII. 191. This River-dragon tam’d at length submits To let his sojourners depart.

1697.  C. Leslie, Snake in Grass (ed. 2), 224. They, at last, submitted, to have these words left out.

1794.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xxviii. She submitted to humble herself to Montoni.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), II. 158. Where the mortgagee submits to be redeemed.

1852.  Thackeray, Esmond, III. vii. I … affected gladness when he came, submitted to hear when he was by me.

  † 3.  refl. To subject or expose oneself to danger, etc. Obs.

1471.  Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 217/14. Your champion that for your loue submytteth hym self vnto the peryll of deth.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, III. xiv. (1912), 435. The dayly dangers Amphialus did submit himselfe into.

1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., I. iii. 47. I haue walk’d about the streets, Submitting me vnto the perillous Night.

  II.  4. trans. To bring under a certain control, government or rule; to make subject, cause to yield to a person; to cause (a thing) to be subordinated to another. Now rare.

  In the first quot. a literalism of translation.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., I. pr. iv. (1868), 19. What open confessioun of felonie hadde euer iugis so accordaunt in cruelte þat oþer errour of mans witte or ellys condicioun of fortune þat is vncerteyne to al mortal folk ne submyttede summe of hem?

1422.  Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., xvii. 146. If þou wilt submyt or vndreset al thyngis to the.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., I. xiv. 73. It miȝte seme that God wolde not … submitte … and sende him [viz. Holy Scripture] to resoun.

1530.  Palsgr., 355. Whiche dyd submytte a great parte of Grece in their subjection.

1558.  T. Watson, Seven Sacr., 43 b. We submitte our reason to our fayth.

1590.  C. S., Right Relig., 23. God … hath submitted all things vnder his feete.

1644.  [H. Parker], Jus Populi, 28. 28. Happy is that King which anticipates his subjects in submitting his own titles.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., cxiv. Submitting all things to desire.

1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, xxxii. She was determined never to submit her mind to his judgment on this question.

  5.  To subject to a certain condition or treatment. Now rare.

c. 1450.  Godstow Reg., 507. The said Andrew bounde and submytted the same mese, with the pertynentis … to the distreynyng of the forsaid abbesse.

1490.  Caxton, Eneydos, Prol. 4. I submytte my sayd boke to theyr correctyon.

1528.  More, Dyaloge, IV. Wks. 273/2. To submytte … the rebellion of theyr reason to the obedyence of faith.

1614.  Raleigh, Hist. World, V. iii. § 15. 516. To submit learned Propositions, vnto the workemanship … of base handicrafts men.

1668.  Dryden, Dram. Poesy, Ess. (ed. Ker), I. 56. Whether we ought not to submit our stage to the exactness of our next neighbours.

1758.  J. Dalrymple, Ess. Feudal Property (ed. 2), 214. That system … submitted its peculiar forms to the dispatch and ease required in the extended … dealings of mankind.

1861.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 47. The inmates of the Steelyard were submitted to an almost monastic discipline.

  b.  To subject to an operation or process.

1815.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 449. Till Sir H. Davy … submitted the earths to the same powerful means of analysis.

1837.  Goring & Pritchard, Microgr., 211. When submitted to the action of polarized light.

1857.  Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., i. 42. When alcohol is submitted to distillation.

1885.  Sat. Rev., 21 Feb., 235/2. Preparing their young horses for the wild rush of the hunting-field by submitting them to the milder yet stimulating excitement of coursing.

  6.  To bring under a person’s view, notice or consideration; to refer to the decision or judgment of a person; to bring up or present for criticism, consideration or approval.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 31 b. To submitte his writynges to the knowledge of the Emperour.

1587.  Sc. Acts Jas. VI. (1814), III. 478/2. To quhome baith þe saidis pairties referrit and submittit þe foirsaid supplicatioun.

1644.  Sc. Acts Chas. I. (1870), VI. I. 179/2. Baith the saides pairties … Submitted þe foirsaid Complant … before þe secreet Counsell.

1651.  Hobbes, Leviathan, I. xv. 78. They that are at controversie, submit their Right to the judgement of an Arbitrator.

c. 1721.  Prior, Prol. Delia’s Play, 28. Dare to be true, submit the rest to Heaven.

1784.  Cowper, Task, IV. 98. It [sc. the globe] turns submitted to my view, turns round With all its generations.

1856.  Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), II. vi. 113. To prepare the measures which were to be submitted to Parliament by the government.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., II. xxvii. 384. It is indeed a grand experiment which Nature here submits to our inspection.

1891.  C. Lowe, in 19th Cent., Dec., 855. An editor was no longer obliged to submit a copy of his journal to the police before its publication could be sanctioned.

1905.  Act 5 Edw. VII., c. 17 § 5. In order that such proceedings may be submitted for the sanction of Parliament.

  with clause.

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, Ded. How far I have succeeded … I shall submit to the candid reader.

  b.  Without const.; in Sc. Law, to refer to arbitration.

1799.  J. Robertson, Agric. Perth, 374. An account of the quantity of corn shipped at this port … is submitted as deserving notice.

1838.  W. Bell, Dict. Law Scot., s.v. Arbitration, An order on the parties … mutually to discharge each other of the matter submitted.

1855.  Bain, Senses & Int., III. i. § 38 (1864), 378. On this question the following remarks are submitted.

1879.  Tourgee, Fool’s Err., xxv. 150. The conventions had … submitted constitutions which had been ratified by vote of the people.

1888.  Bryce, Amer. Commw., xvi. I. 226. The officials of the government cannot submit bills.

  c.  absol. or intr.; in Sc. Law, to make a ‘submission.’

1765–8.  Erskine, Inst. Law Scot., IV. iii. § 35. Decrees-arbitral, as their force arises from the express compact of the parties submitting … could not be set aside.

1897.  Daily News, 4 March, 6/4. The latest Saturday outsiders may ‘submit’ will be the Saturday in next week.

  7.  To put forward as a contention or proposition; to urge or represent with deference (that…). Now freq. in legal parlance.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), III. 226. He humbly presumed to submit to His Majesty, that, before any act was done [etc.].

1863.  Mitchell, Sev. Stor. My Farm, 243. We submit that it looks a little yellow.

1875.  E. White, Life in Christ, IV. xxiv. (1878), 361. There is, I submit, no possibility of escape from the force of this argument.

1907.  Standard, 19 Jan., 4/4. Counsel, in concluding his speech, submitted that the plaintiff was entitled to recover damages.

  III.  8. trans. To let or lay down, lower, sink, lay low; to place (one’s neck) under the yoke or the axe. To submit the fasces (see FASCES 2). ? Obs.

c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, XIII. 384. His shrunke knees, submitted him to death. Ibid., XX. 295. My lance, submitted [ἔγχος μὲν τόδε κεῖται ἐπὶ χθονός].

a. 1634.  Randolph, Poems (1638), 82. Rome did submit her Fasces.

1667.  Milton, P. L., V. 784. Will ye submit your necks, and chuse to bend The supple knee?

1725.  Pope, Odyss., XI. 205. Since in the dust proud Troy submits her tow’rs.

1757.  [see NECK sb.¹ 3 b].

1807.  Robt. Wilson, in Life (1862), II. 145. I will now submit my head to the block if [etc.].

  † b.  To put (the female) to the male. Obs.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 104. Submit thy Females to the lusty Sire.

  † c.  refl. To become low or lower. Obs.

1662.  Dryden, To Ld. Chanc., 139. Sometimes the Hill submits itself a while In small Descents.

  † d.  To lower the standard of. Obs.

1556.  R. Robinson, trans. More’s Utopia, To Rdr. A ij b. To the meanesse of whose learninge I thoughte it my part to submit … my stile.