English
permissive
Permissive comes from French permissif ‘permissive, lenient’, from Latin permittō ‘to cast, hurl, throw’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méyth₂eti.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méyth₂eti1uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*meitō1‘to put forth, put out’uncertain
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEmītō1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō1‘let go, release’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermittō2‘to cast, hurl, throw’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermissiō3as permissiōnem‘leave, permission’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpermission4
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpermissif5‘permissive, lenient’stem of permission
- Englishearliest quotation 1667permissive5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin permitto
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin permissio
- 3 Wiktionary, French permission
- 4 Wiktionary, French permissif
- 5 Wiktionary, English permissive
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book 3: “For neither Man nor Angel can discern / Hypocrisy,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méyth₂etiWiktionary, Latin permittouncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*meitōWiktionary, Latin permitto‘to put forth, put out’uncertain
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEmītōWiktionary, Latin permittouncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittōWiktionary, Latin permitto‘let go, release’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermittōWiktionary, Latin permissio‘to cast, hurl, throw’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpermissiōWiktionary, French permissionas permissiōnem‘leave, permission’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpermissionWiktionary, French permissif
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpermissifWiktionary, English permissive‘permissive, lenient’stem of permission
- Englishearliest quotation 1667permissiveWiktionary, English permissive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “permissive”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin permitto, Latin permissio, French permission, French permissif. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *méyth₂eti / permissive