licit

Latin

allowed, permitted, lawful

Variants:licitlicetlicenslicence

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About This Root

The root licit goes back to the Latin verb licēre, an impersonal verb meaning "it is allowed, it is permitted." Romans used it the way English uses "it is OK to...": licet = "it is allowed." From this single idea — that something has permission to happen — the whole family unfolds, and almost every branch is some shade of "(not) being allowed to do something."

The past participle licitus meant "(that which is) permitted, lawful," and English borrowed it whole as licit — lawful, sanctioned, above board. Stick the negative prefix in- (here "not") in front and you get its mirror image: illicit = "not permitted" → unlawful, forbidden, off the books. The pair licit / illicit lines up exactly like permit / prohibit or legal / illegal — one root, one negative prefix, two opposite verdicts.

The most everyday member took a detour through Old French. Latin licentia ("freedom to act, permission") became Old French licence, then entered English as the document or grant that proves you are allowed to do something: a licence/license to drive, to marry, to sell alcohol. Here English splits along the Atlantic: British English keeps the French-style noun/verb spelling distinction — licence is the noun (the card in your wallet), license is the verb (to license a bar) — while American English flattens both into license. (The same advice/advise, practice/practise logic.)

Now watch the meaning curdle. That same licentia — "freedom, permission" — could also mean too much freedom: taking liberties, doing whatever you please. From this darker sense came licentious: someone who treats every desire as permitted, hence "unrestrained, dissolute, sexually immoral." The word literally means "acting as if everything is allowed." It is a perfect case of semantic deterioration: permission, pushed to excess, becomes vice. (English does the same with "poetic licence" — freedom to bend the rules.)

One quiet relative hides in plain sight: leisure. It too comes from licēre (via Old French leisir, "to be permitted") — leisure is literally the time you are allowed to do as you wish, your permitted free time. So from one Roman shrug — "it is allowed" — English draws the lawful (licit), the unlawful (illicit), the permit (licence), the dissolute (licentious), and even the free afternoon (leisure).

The pattern to hold onto: licit always concerns permission. Add a negative and it becomes forbidden; turn it into a document and it becomes a licence; let the permission run wild and it becomes licentious.

From Latin licitus (allowed, permitted), past participle of licēre (it is lawful). Produces words about permission and legality: licit (lawful), illicit (unlawful), license/licence (official permission), and licentious (taking excessive liberties). The contrast between licit and illicit mirrors permit and prohibit.

Memory Tip

Think of a licence — the card that proves you are allowed to drive. The whole licit family is about permission: licit = allowed (lawful), il-licit = not allowed (unlawful), licentious = acting as if everything is allowed (dissolute). Even leisure is your permitted free time.

Core Words Deep Dive

The few words from this family worth telling in full — one by one.

license

From Latin licentia ("permission") via Old French. A licence is literally a piece of permission — proof that you are allowed to do something normally restricted (drive, marry, sell alcohol, run software). The British/American split matters: in BrE, licence is the noun and license the verb; in AmE, license covers both. Beyond documents it also means "freedom that is granted" — poetic licence, the licence to experiment.

illicit

in- (here "not") + licitus (allowed) = "not allowed" → unlawful, forbidden. It pairs with words about things done in secret or on the black market: illicit drugs, an illicit affair, illicit trade. Subtly broader than "illegal": illicit can mean against rules or social norms, not just against the written law — an illicit relationship may break no statute but is still disapproved.

licentious

A textbook case of semantic deterioration. It comes from the same licentia ("freedom, permission") as licence, but means freedom taken to excess — behaving as if every desire is permitted. Hence "dissolute, unrestrained, sexually immoral." The word literally encodes "acting as if everything is allowed." Remember it as licence-gone-wild.

licit

Borrowed straight from Latin licitus ("allowed"). Rarer than its negative twin illicit — you meet "illicit drugs" far more often than "licit drugs." It surfaces mostly in formal or technical contexts that need to contrast the two: licit and illicit trade, licit drug use (legally permitted). If you know illicit, licit is simply the version without the "not."

Related Roots

legSimilar

Both touch on lawfulness, but from different angles. leg (from lex/legis, "law") is about the law itself — legal, legislation, legitimate. licit (from licēre, "be allowed") is about permission — whether something is allowed. Quick test: about written law/statute → leg; about being permitted or not → licit. licit/illicit and legal/illegal often overlap in meaning but come from separate roots.

permissSimilar

permiss (from per- + mittere, "to let through, allow") names the act of allowing — permit, permission, permissive. licit names the resulting state — whether the thing is allowed (licit) or not (illicit). Think: permiss is the granting; licit is the verdict.