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licitus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word licitus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
70–19 BC, Virgil
Ultimate origin
Latin licet
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin licet
Latin licitus
From the same root
Latin ilicet ← licet
Latin licens ← licet

Forms

licitus (feminine licita, neuter licitum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin licet (“it is permitted”).[1][2][3] De Vaan traces licet back to Proto-Italic *likē-, whose first meaning he takes to have been “to be available, be on offer, have the value of”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the dictionaries give Virgil as the first author;[3][2][5] in the Aeneid it qualifies a conversation that is allowed.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Classical language it means “permitted, lawful, legitimate”, the opposite of illicitus.[1][2] The neuter is used as a noun for a permissible act: Velleius speaks of claiming whatever one pleased as allowed, and Tacitus has the phrase per licita atque inlicita foedatus “defiled by things lawful and unlawful”.[1][2] An adverb licitō “permissibly” is also recorded.[2]

It remained in use in law, in the councils and in Church Latin, where it means “licit, lawful”, with the adverb licitē.[3][6] English took it over as licit in the late 15th century.[7]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Aeneid of a permitted conversation.[2][5][3]
  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius uses the neuter as a noun, of what one treats as allowed.[1][3]
  • 1st century AD – Manilius uses the neuter as a noun.[1][3]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus contrasts licita with inlicita.[1][2][3]
  • late 15th century – English borrows it as licit.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Permitted, allowed; lawful, legitimate.[1][2][5]
  2. (neuter as noun) A permissible or lawful act;[1][2] licita, things that are allowed.[1][2]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Licit, lawful.[6]

Usage notes

Medieval Latin also had a fourth-declension noun licitus “authorisation, licence”.[8]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Licitus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/licitus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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