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ilicet

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word ilicet

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*ei-,*lik-ē-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin eo
French je
Latin comes
French comte
Latin subeo
French subir
Latin praeeo
Latin praetor
Latin praetorium
Latin praetorianus
Latin praetorius
Latin nequeo
Latin praetereo
Latin pereo
Latin depereo
Latin dispereo
Latin prodeo
Latin redeo
Latin reditus
Latin reditio
Latin obeo
Latin introeo
Latin introitus
Latin ilicet
Latin adeo
Latin aditus
Latin intereo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈiː.lɪ.kɛt][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈiː.li.t͡ʃet][1]

Forms

īlicet (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īre (“to go”) + licet (“it is permitted”), literally “one may go”.[2][3][1] The OLD also allows the imperative ⟨ī⟩ as the first part.[4] It is formed like scīlicet and vidēlicet.[2][4] De Vaan traces licet to Proto-Italic *lik-ē- (“to be available, have the value of”) and finds no certain cognates of the root outside Italic.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it from Plautus.[2][5] In the Mostellaria it answers the words “then I'll go in without a guide”: ilicet, off you go.[4]

Semantic evolution

Ancient commentators explain it as a formula of dismissal: Donatus says the herald pronounced it to dismiss the judges when the business was over, and Servius, citing Varro, that it was the last word spoken at a funeral.[3][4] In comedy it is an exclamation of dismissal, with a dative in the phrase ilicet malam crucem, to hell with someone, as Plautus says of the parasite's art,[4][3] and an exclamation of dismay, that's the end, it's all over, as in Plautus' ilicet: mandata eri perierunt, “it's all up: my master's orders are lost”.[4][3]

Through the idea of hurrying off it came to mean at once, straight away;[3] Lewis & Short find this in Afranius and in the Augustan poets.[3] Virgil uses it so in the Aeneid, as ilicet obruimur numero, “at once we are overwhelmed by numbers”,[4][3] and so do Statius and Valerius Flaccus.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, as a word of dismissal and of dismay.[4][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, “it's all over”.[4][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, “at once”.[4][3][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius, “at once”.[4][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. You may go, off with you (a formula of dismissal); with a dative, to hell with.[4][3][1]
  2. It's all over, it's all up (expressing dismay).[4][3][1]
  3. At once, straightaway, immediately.[4][3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Ilicet.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ilicet. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·