omission
UK[əʊˈmɪʃn]US[oʊˈmɪʃn]
n
The act of not including something or someone; something that has been left out or not done.
Morpheme Breakdown
o
miss
ion
o
away
miss
send
ion
action/state
Etymology
The word 'omission' originates from the Latin verb 'omittere', meaning "to let go, to disregard, to leave out." This verb itself is a compound of the prefix 'ob-' (here meaning "away") and 'mittere' ("to send"). The core concept is of sending something away, thereby neglecting or excluding it. The noun form 'omissio' (genitive 'omissionis') entered Middle English via Anglo-Norman, carrying the sense of a failure to act or an item left out. Thus, the modern meaning of an act of excluding or the thing excluded logically follows from the literal idea of "sending away."
Analysis
Structure: o (away) + miss (send) + ion (action/state)
o (away): Latin prefix 'ob-' (in the way, against), often assimilated to 'o-' before 'm'.
miss (send): Latin root 'mittere' (to send), appearing as 'miss-' in its past participial stem.
ion (action/state): Latin suffix '-io' (genitive '-ionis'), forming nouns indicating an action or its result.
Examples
The report contained several serious omissions of key data.
His omission from the guest list was a deliberate snub.
Errors of omission can be just as damaging as errors of commission.