permissible

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin permissibilis (“that can be permitted, allowable”), recorded in a British source about 1290,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin permissus (“permitted”), the past participle of permittō (“to let pass, let go; grant, permit”), with the suffix -ibilis, English -ible.^[2][3][6][7] Etymonline, Klein and the Shorter Oxford also bring in Old French permissible, which Etymonline dates to the 15th century;^[6][7][8] the OED finds only an isolated Middle French record from Liège, and French permissible as a rare word from 1845.^[2] Compare Italian permissibile, recorded before 1580.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

That can or ought to be permitted; allowable: before 1475, in Lydgate's translation of Deguileville's Pilgrimage.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century, and Dictionary.com to 1400–50.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed close to that of the Latin, "that may be allowed".^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as what may be permitted, and took it from permissus.^[9] Later technical uses include permissible dose, the amount of ionizing radiation above which harm to health is thought to occur,^[8][3] and, in the United States, a permissible explosive, one approved for use in coal mines with gas.^[3] The adverb permissibly is recorded from the mid 19th century and the noun permissibility from the late 19th century.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1475 – allowable, that can or ought to be permitted.^[2]
• mid 19th century – the adverb permissibly.^[8]
• late 19th century – the noun permissibility.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Allowed, or able to be allowed; allowable, admissible: Is it permissible to take photographs inside the museum?^[10][3][2]
2. Of an explosive, approved for use in coal mines where gas may be present.^[3]
3. permissible dose: the amount of ionizing radiation above which harm to health is thought to occur.^[8][3]

Noun

1. A permissible explosive.^[3]

Word family

• permissibility
• permissibly
• permissibleness
• impermissible
• nonpermissible
• unpermissible

Related words

• permission
• permit
• permissive

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins