permittebat

Permit­tebat is the Latin imperfect active indicative form of the verb permittere, meaning "to permit" or "to allow" (and sometimes "to entrust"). In translation it yields "he/she/it was permitting" or, depending on context, "he/she/it used to permit." It is the third-person singular form used in narrative and descriptive past scenes.

Morphology and conjugation notes: permittere belongs to the third conjugation. The imperfect is formed with the present stem permit-, the imperfect marker -ba-, and the personal ending -t for the third singular, yielding permittebat. The full imperfect active paradigm is: permittebam, permittebas, permittebat, permittebamus, permittebatis, permittebant. The verb’s principal parts are permitto, permittere, permisi, permissum, which underlie its conjugation across tenses.

Usage and senses: the primary sense of permittere is “to allow, to permit.” In Latin, it can also carry the sense “to entrust” in certain contexts. Permit­tebat commonly occurs in narrative or descriptive past tense to indicate an ongoing permission or allowance in the past. It can be used with objects in the sense of what is being permitted, and with indirect expressions—such as clauses or indirect objects—that specify to whom permission is granted or for what action. The exact construction can vary by author and period, but the imperfect form consistently marks a continuing allowance in the past.

Etymology: permittere is formed from per- “through, to allow” and mittere “to send,” overlaying the sense of allowing passage or granting permission. The form permittebat reflects regular Latin morphology of the imperfect tense.