permission

[ per-mish-uhn ]

noun

1. authorization granted to do something; formal consent:

   to ask permission to leave the room.

   Synonyms: sanction, leave

   Antonyms: refusal, restraint

2. the act of permitting.

permission

/ pəˈmɪʃən /

noun

1. authorization to do something

Other Words From

• per·missioned adjective
• per·mis·so·ry [per-, mis, -, uh, -ree], adjective
• nonper·mission noun
• self-per·mission noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of permission¹

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”; permit ¹ ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Councils who want to increase bills above this level must get permission from the government or hold a referendum.

From BBC

Our friend Jeff Sharlet reacted by saying that Biden’s speech was misinformation: “A moderate- or low-information voter who tuned in to that, not sure what to think, would have come away thinking that the Democrats had lost to a Mitt Romney or a John McCain. They would take it as permission to tune out again till ’28.”

From Slate

What it represents is a threat to the fact that, ultimately, power is held by “we, the people,” and that anyone whom we elect to represent us holds that power only temporarily, with our permission, until it is time for us to take it back.

From Slate

The firms involved — Shell, Equinor, and Ithaca Energy — say they should be allowed to carry on with drilling because permission was granted in good faith under the law as it was understood at the time.

From BBC

She undermined the basic argument that content creators have made against AI firms: that the process of feeding their AI models data indiscriminately “scraped” from the internet inevitably involves using copyrighted content without permission.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• acceptance
• acknowledgment
• admission
• agreement
• approval
• concession
• dispensation
• endorsement
• license
• permit
• privilege
• recognition
• warrant