English
permissive
Permissive comes from French permissif ‘permissive, lenient’, from Latin permittō ‘to cast, hurl, throw’, and ultimately from mittō ‘let go, release’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō‘let go, release’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermittō‘to cast, hurl, throw’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermissiōas permissiōnem‘leave, permission’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpermission
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentpermissif‘permissive, lenient’stem of permission
- Englishearliest quotation 1667permissive
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō‘let go, release’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermittō‘to cast, hurl, throw’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermissiōas permissiōnem‘leave, permission’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpermission
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentpermissif‘permissive, lenient’stem of permission
- Englishearliest quotation 1667permissive
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book 3: “For neither Man nor Angel can discern / Hypocrisy,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *meitō ‘to put forth, put out’
remission, unremitting, 20 more
through Old Latin mītō
transmission, admission, submission, emission, remit, omission, commissariat, 22 more
through Latin mittō ‘let go, release’
committee, admit, commission, mess, mission, commit, transmit, premise, missile, dismiss, emit, intermittent, omit, amit, commissary, commissar, remiss, 34 more
Today it means
adj Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mittō / permissive