Permittere

Permittere is a Latin verb meaning to permit, allow, entrust, or release. It belongs to the third conjugation of -ere verbs and uses the present active infinitive permittere. The principal parts are permitto, permittere, permisi, permissum, which yield the standard Latin conjugation patterns: present: permitto, permittis, permittit, permittimus, permittitis, permittunt; imperfect: permittebam, permittebas, permittebat, permittebamus, permittebatis, permittebant; future: permittam, permittēs, permittet, permittēmus, permittētis, permittent. The supine is permissum and the perfect passive participle is permissus.

Etymology and semantic range: permittere derives from per- “through” + mittere “to send,” originally meaning “to send through” or “to let pass,” and later extending to grant permission or entrust someone with something. In legal and administrative Latin, the sense often centers on granting a right or authorization. The related noun permissio (permission) and the English cognate permission likewise descend from this root.

Usage and constructions: Latin permittere commonly expresses granting the right to do something, often with the person who is allowed in the dative and the act or thing in an infinitive or clause. Example: Pater filio quid velit facere permittit. “The father permits his son to do whatever he wishes.” Permittere can also appear impersonally in the passive with the sense “it is allowed” (permittitur). The verb is frequently used with an infinitival complement, e.g., facere + infinitive, to specify the permitted action.

See also: permission, permit, permissio.