Ommission

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of neglecting to perform a required or expected action
2. A situation where someone does not take an action they should have taken
3. The state of leaving something out or not doing what is needed

Etymology: "Ommission" is a misspelling of "omission", so the history below belongs to that word. The noun traces back to Latin "omittere", which combined "ob-", meaning "away", with "mittere", "to send", giving the sense of letting something go or sending it aside. From it Late Latin formed "omissio", "omissionem", a noun for the act of leaving out. That noun passed through Old French "omission" into Middle English as "omissioun", and the modern spelling later settled into English. The word has kept the core idea of its root: something is sent away from a set, whether a letter dropped from a text or a duty left undone. The sense of neglect in the meaning, failing to do what is needed, grows from the same root, since letting something slip past is the same act whether it was deliberate or careless.

Synonyms: neglect, overlook, exclusion

Antonyms: inclusion, addition, involvement