Remission - Definition and Overview

Remission is the state of absence of disease activity in patients with known chronic illness. It is commonly used to refer to absence of active cancer or inflammatory bowel disease.

REMISSION n (lat. remittere): In spectrosopy, the term "remission" refers to the reflection or scatter of light by a material. Similar to the word "reemission", it means the light which is scattered backward from a material, as opposed to that which is "transmitted" though the material. The word "reemission" connotes no such directional character. Based on the origins of the words, "emit" means "to send out or away"; "reemit" means "to send out again"; "transmit" means "to send across or through"; and "remit" means "to send back".