permit English · revision 6260

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1429|origins=la mitto}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pəˈmɪt/, /ˈpɜːmɪt/ ''(UK)''; /pɚˈmɪt/, /ˈpɝmɪt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English permytten, [[bor|la|permitto|alt=permittere|t=to let go, give up, allow]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) perhaps partly through Middle French permetre,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|per-|t=through]] and [[m|la|mitto|alt=mittere|t=to let go, send]] (see [[mission]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To resign or hand over: 1429 in Barnhart, a sense now obsolete;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) to allow, about 1475 in Barnhart and the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To grant liberty or leave to a person is from the 16th century, 1514 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The absolute use, as in ''weather permitting'', is from 1553.^(OED 1989) The noun, formal permission, is from the early 16th century,^(SOED 2002)^(Cresswell 2021) and a written order or licence from 1714.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb on the second.^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1429 – to resign (obsolete).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1475 – to allow.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1553 – weather permitting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1714 – a written permit.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To allow; to give permission for.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make possible: ''if time permits''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An official document giving permission to do something; a [[licence]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[permittee]]

+ * [[permitter]]

+ * [[permittedly]]

+ * [[building permit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[permission]]

+ * [[mission]]

+ * [[permissive]]

+ * [[admit]]

+ * [[submit]]

+ * [[emit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ MWU records a separate permit, a fish of the pompano family, by folk etymology from Spanish palometa (1884).^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}