Permit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Permitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Permitting.]
Etymology: [L. permittere, permissum, to let through, to allow, permit; per + mittere to let go, send. See Per-, and Mission.]
1. To consent to; to allow or suffer to be done; to tolerate; to put up with. What things God doth neither command nor forbid . . . he permitteth with approbation either to be done or left undone. Hooker.
2. To grant (one) express license or liberty to do an act; to authorize; to give leave; -- followed by an infinitive. Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Acis xxvi. 1.
3. To give over; to resign; to leave; to commit. Let us not aggravate our sorrows, But to the gods permit the event of things. Addison.
Syn. -- To allow; let; grant; admit; suffer; tolerate; endure; consent to. -- To Allow, Permit, Suffer, Tolerate. To allow is more positive, denoting (at least originally and etymologically) a decided assent, either directly or by implication. To permit is more negative, and imports only acquiescence or an abstinence from prevention. The distinction, however, is often disregarded by good writers. To suffer has a stronger passive or negative sense than to permit, sometimes implying against the will, sometimes mere indifference. To tolerate is to endure what is contrary to will or desire. To suffer and to tolerate are sometimes used without discrimination.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Permit, v. i.
To grant permission; to allow.
Permit, n.
Warrant; license; leave; permission; specifically, a written license or permission given to a person or persons having authority; as, a permit to land goods subject to duty.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for permit; he lists it under allow, endure, permission.
Where he writes about it:
We allow that which we do not attempt to hinder; we permit that to which we give some express authorization. — from allow
We allow a child's innocent intrusion; we concede a right; grant a request; consent to a sale of property; permit an inspection of accounts; sanction a marriage; tolerate the rudeness of a well-meaning servant; submit to a surgical operation; yield to a demand or necessity against our wish or will, or yield something under compulsion; as, the sheriff yielded the keys at the muzzle of a revolver, and allowed the mob to enter. — from allow
Suffer, in the sense of mild concession, is now becoming rare, its place being taken by allow, permit, or tolerate. — from allow
Allow and permit involve large concession of the will; put up with and tolerate imply decided aversion and reluctant withholding of opposition or interference; whispering is allowed by the school-teacher who does not forbid nor censure it; one puts up with the presence of a disagreeable visitor; a state tolerates a religion which it would be glad to suppress. — from endure
There may be a failure to object, which constitutes an implied permission, tho this is more properly expressed by allowance; we allow what we do not oppose, permit what we expressly authorize. — from permission
The noun permit implies a formal written permission. — from permission