permission
(pəˈmɪʃən)
[ad. L. permissiōn-em, n. of action from permittĕre to permit. Cf. F. permission (1539 in R. Estienne), It. permissione.]
1. The action of permitting or giving leave; allowance; liberty or licence granted to do something; leave.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 211 Thei may thro the permission of God [Deo permittente] transfigurate similitudes. Ibid. 427 The permission and sufferaunce of God. 1537 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 110 The permyssyon of hym to haue suche a Scope to worke myschyffes at his pleasur. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 78 b, The same was done by my leave and permission. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 247. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 496 Do as thou find'st Permission from above. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. i, Stanley has obtained permission to apply personally to his friends. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 151 Proceeds of a sale of permissions to eat butter during Lent. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. i. v, I have your guardian's permission to address you. |
† 2. Giving up, abandonment.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iii. 25 By God's secret judicial dereliction and permission of them. |
3. attrib. † permission cap (
bonnet), ? a cap permitted to be worn on occasions or in places where it was proper to be uncovered, ? a skull-cap;
permission ship, a ship having permission or licence to enter a port otherwise closed.
| 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets i. 21 Here's three *permission bonnets for ye. |
| 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2031/1 His Majesties High Commissioner..in his return..having the High Constable on his right hand and the Great Marshall on his left, with *Permission Caps and in their Robes. 1690 Ibid. No. 2564/4 A Guinea Negro Boy,..on his head a black Cloth Permission Cap,..strayed away.., on the 3d instant. |
| 1667 Cal. St. Papers, Dom. 563 A French *permission ship of 300 tons came in [to Deal] with linen, and is gone up to London. 1698 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 360 The house of commons, in a committee on the African trade, resolved, that the company should have liberty to trade..and that all permission ships or interlopers shall pay to the company 10{pstlg}. per cent. before they trade thither. |
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Add:
[1.] b. (As a count noun.) An authorization to do something;
esp. a written document confirming that permission has been granted,
= permit n. 1.
| 1718 J. Ozell tr. Tournefort's Voy. I. 353 The Caimacan..gave strangers a permission to defend themselves against these disorderly Rake-shames. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 151 Proceeds of a sale of permissions to eat butter during Lent. 1903 G. B. Shaw Revolutionist's Handbk. ii, in Man & Superman 188 The Factory Code..and Trade Union organization..have..converted the old unrestricted property of the cotton manufacturer in his will and the cotton spinner in his labor into a mere permission to trade or work on stringent public..conditions. 1979 Internat. Jrnl. Sociol. of Law VII. 349 A man was offered an alternative plot of land with appropriate permissions, onto which he could transfer his small business, a ‘kennels’. |