Other forms: permitted, permits, permitting
To permit is to give official permission. Permit entry, not permitted, weather permitting.
It is the formal word beside let and allow, and it belongs to rules and authorities rather than to people. The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb on the second, which is a common English pattern. Weather permitting is a fixed phrase meaning if the weather allows.
1verbpermitTo give official permission.
“The museum does not permit photography inside the galleries.”
2noundocumentAn official document giving permission.
“You need a permit to park on this street during the day.”
permit is an allowing, or a document.
Also accepted in games: authorize
Latin permittere means to let through or allow, from per, through, plus mittere, to send.
Proto-Indo-European
*mey- (change)
Latin
permittō — give up, allow
Middle French
permettre
Middle English
permitten
English, today
permit
Built from
From Middle English permitten, borrowed from Middle French permettre, from Latin permittō (“give up, allow”), from per (“through”) + mittō (“send”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA