permit
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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permits,
present (3rd person singular)
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permitted,
past participle, past
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permitting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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permits,
present (3rd person singular)
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permitted,
past participle, past
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permitting
present participle
-
to grant permission; allow liberty to do something.
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to afford opportunity or possibility.
Write when time permits.
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to allow or admit (usually followed byof ).
statements that permit of no denial.
noun
verb
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(tr) to grant permission to do something
you are permitted to smoke
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(tr) to consent to or tolerate
she will not permit him to come
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to allow the possibility (of)
the passage permits of two interpretations
his work permits him to relax nowadays
noun
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an official certificate or document granting authorization; licence
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permission, esp written permission
Usage
What are other ways to say permit?
To permit is to allow someone to do something. How is permit different from allow and let? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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permitsimple
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permitssimple
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have permittedperfect
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has permittedperfect
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am permittingprogressive
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are permittingprogressive
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is permittingprogressive
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have been permittingperfect progressive
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has been permittingperfect progressive
Past
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permittedsimple
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had permittedperfect
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was permittingprogressive
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were permittingprogressive
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had been permittingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of permit1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin permittere “to let go through, give leave,” equivalent to per- per- + mittere “to let or make (someone) go”; see admit, commit, etc.
Origin of permit2
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; apparently by folk etymology from Spanish palometa palometa
Explanation
Permit means to allow. When you permit your brother to come into your room, you let him in. (You can always kick him back out if he messes with your stuff.) To permit means to let someone do something. It comes from the Latin permittere which means "give up, allow to pass through." You might feel like you "gave up" when you permitted your brother to enter your room. As a noun, a permit is a document that lets you do something — like when you get a driver's permit to learn to drive, or a gun permit to carry a gun, or even a construction permit to build an addition to your house.
Vocabulary lists containing permit
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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This Week in Words: January 20 - 26, 2018
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 5
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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:
In this context, even Yabloko’s meek peace platform was too potentially damaging to permit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
He issued a permit in April to allow it to cross the border in Montana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Pirela’s brother Juan Pirela presented Phoenix multimedia news organization Arizona’s Family with Oswaldo’s work permit, which indicated it was issued in 2024 and is valid until 2029.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Under the Governing Body Endorsement system it estimated only about 5,000 would be likely to qualify for a permit - a reduction of roughly 92%.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
He got his learner’s permit before we left for Pakistan and is desperate to practice enough to get his license as soon as he’s allowed.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
It still needs three permits from the state environmental agency that could take months, according to the township’s engineer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
The district policy permits any community member to call for removing a library book.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
He also announced building permits for the "equivalent reconstruction" of homes destroyed by the fires would be issued within a month, or even quicker.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
This permits U.S. residence, not voting, yet there’s confusion, since “much of the paperwork and language around this status designation refers to such individuals as dual citizens.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
It is the form of hemoglobin, then, that permits its function.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“The government suggests it is permitted to use a civil action as a ‘fishing expedition,’ ” she wrote.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
The letter noted that Daniels’ contract permitted LSU to use his name, image and likeness for only 180 days beyond his final game in college.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
When China permitted Morgan Stanley to create the first Sino-U.S. investment-banking joint venture in the mid-1990s, China International Capital, Zhu’s son Levin Zhu Yunlai gained a senior position and remains active in the financial industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Calls will only be permitted if they relate to a contract a person has already entered into or the company has obtained prior consent to be contacted for marketing.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Why bring their kids to America, and not let them enjoy the freedoms they wouldn't have been permitted in Iran?
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
State laws on the subject vary considerably, with some prohibiting commercial surrogacy and others liberally permitting it and even issuing parentage orders before birth.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
A government permitting dashboard estimates that the project will complete environmental reviews and permitting in 2028.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Weather permitting, astronomers say the natural spectacle promises to be a "very, very special" event - so, here's what you need to know about how and where to safely watch it unfold.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
“Our job is to come up with a lot of options and they’ll pick and choose what they want, time permitting and other factors,” says Fitzgerald.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Might gravity tunnels provide a kind of interstellar or intergalactic subway, permitting us to travel to inaccessible places much more rapidly than we could in the ordinary way?
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
