permission
Americannoun
-
permissions
plural
-
authorization granted to do something; formal consent.
to ask permission to leave the room.
-
the act of permitting.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of permission
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin permissiōn-, stem of permissiō “a yielding, giving leave,” from permiss(us) “given leave” (past participle of permittere “to let go through, give leave”; see permit 1) + -iō -ion
Explanation
If you give someone approval to do something, you are giving them permission. Think of the permission slip your parents sign to let you go on a field trip––they are approving your going on the trip. Permission has the same Latin root word as permit. They both come from permittere, which means to allow to go or pass through. Permission can be given in writing, it can be given orally, or it can be assumed or unspoken––by passing the box of cookies around the room you're giving everyone tacit permission to help themselves.
Vocabulary lists containing permission
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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"The War of the Wall" by Toni Cade Bambara
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The Titan's Curse
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Producers are hanging their hopes on utilities, which just got permission to count green hydrogen they burn toward renewable energy targets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The agreement comes as some studios have expressed concerns about AI models training on their copyrighted material without permission or compensation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
"The starting point in the UK is that all these acts of copying - creating the training library and doing the training – require the permission of the copyright owner," she says.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
But the number of caravans without planning permission rose much faster.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“I’m not going to argue with you. You will decline the offer to that school, since you didn’t have my permission to apply in the first place.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
And being vigilant when granting AI agents unrestricted permissions — to use external apps on one’s behalf, or to be able to edit and write with autonomy — might help keep one safe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
According to Windward, an Iranian radio transmission warned all vessels in the area that any crossing without identification signals or Iranian permissions would be at their own risk.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
What’s more, to actually do something useful, AI needs a lot of “wrapping”: the right data, the right permissions, the right guardrails and defined roles for the humans who oversee it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
They become permissions granted or withheld based on the whim of those who interpret and adjudicate our laws.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2026
We had seen him just this morning in Santiago when we picked up our permissions.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
