Submit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Submitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Submitting.]
Etymology: [L. submittere; sub under + mittere to send: cf. F. soumettre. See Missile.]
1. To let down; to lower. [Obs.] Sometimes the hill submits itself a while. Dryden.
2. To put or place under. The bristled throat Of the submitted sacrifice with ruthless steel he cut. Chapman.
3. To yield, resign, or surrender to power, will, or authority; -- often with the reflexive pronoun. Ye ben submitted through your free assent. Chaucer. The angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. Gen. xvi. 9. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. Eph. v. 22.
4. To leave or commit to the discretion or judgment of another or others; to refer; as, to submit a controversy to arbitrators; to submit a question to the court; -- often followed by a dependent proposition as the object. Whether the condition of the clergy be able to bear a heavy burden, is submitted to the house. Swift. We submit that a wooden spoon of our day would not be justified in calling Galileo and Napier blockheads because they never heard of the differential calculus. Macaulay.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Submit, v. i.
1. To yield one's person to the power of another; to give up resistance; to surrender. The revolted provinces presently submitted. C. Middleton.
2. To yield one's opinion to the opinion of authority of another; to be subject; to acquiesce. To thy husband's will Thine shall submit. Milton.
3. To be submissive or resigned; to yield without murmuring. Our religion requires from us . . . to submit to pain, disgrace, and even death. Rogers.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for submit; he lists it under bend.
Where he writes about it:
We allow a child's innocent intrusion; we concede a right; grant a request; consent to a sale of property; permit an inspection of accounts; sanction a marriage; tolerate the rudeness of a well-meaning servant; submit to a surgical operation; yield to a demand or necessity against our wish or will, or yield something under compulsion; as, the sheriff yielded the keys at the muzzle of a revolver, and allowed the mob to enter. — from allow
To submit or yield is to bend the mind humbly to another's wishes. — from bend