Etymologically
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licens

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈlɪ.kẽːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈliː.t͡ʃens][1]

Forms

licēns (genitive licentis, comparative licentior, adverb licenter); third-declension one-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin licet (“it is permitted”), its present participle used as an adjective.[2][3][1] The OLD files it as the participle of liceō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero (81–43 BC).[5] In De oratore Cicero calls the dithyramb “freer and richer” (licentior et dīvitior).[4]

Semantic evolution

Used of people it means unrestrained, free and presumptuous: Propertius calls the Lupercus licēns, Seneca's tragedy Phaedra a band of Naiads, and Gellius writes quam audācēs et quam licentēs sumus, “how bold and how free we are”.[4][3] Of conduct, rule and writing it means free or unrestricted: Valerius Maximus has licentior vīta, Pliny the Elder a “rather free” letter in the preface of his Natural History, and Statius a free game.[4][3] The adverb is licenter.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a freer dithyramb.[4][5]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of a person, the Lupercus.[4][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder calls a letter licentior.[4][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius: quam audācēs et quam licentēs sumus.[4][3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of persons) Unrestrained, free, bold, presumptuous.[4][3][1]
  2. (of conduct, rule, writing) Free, unrestricted; licentious.[4][3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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