Promisse

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An old spelling for a solemn pledge that one will do or give something ; a sign that someone or something is likely to excel in the future
2. A formal vow to carry out an action or provide something ; an indication that a person or thing shows strong potential for later success
3. An archaic form of a binding assurance to perform a deed ; a hopeful sign of excellence that suggests future achievement

Etymology: Latin "promittere" combined "pro-", meaning "forward", with "mittere", "to send." To promise was, literally, to send something forward into the future, a pledge launched ahead of time. The past participle "promissa" gave Old French "promesse", which English borrowed, and the double-s spelling in this form is an older English variant of the same noun. The sending imagery survives in the root's other descendants. "Missile", "mission", and "emit" all come from "mittere", so a promise shares its core with a thrown object, a dispatched envoy, and a thing let out. The noun kept the sense of a formal assurance about future conduct, while the older spelling now appears mainly in historical texts.