Permitted Permit Smile I Weather Verb Bre Pəˈmɪt

• radios are not permitted in the library.
• there are fines for exceeding permitted levels of noise pollution.
• we were not permitted any contact with each other.
• jim permitted himself a wry smile.

permit

1. to allow somebody to do something or to allow something to happen
• Radios are not permitted in the library.
• There are fines for exceeding permitted levels of noise pollution.
• We were not permitted any contact with each other.
• Jim permitted himself a wry smile.
• Visitors are not permitted to take photographs.
• She would not permit herself to look at them.
• Permit me to offer you some advice.
• I'm sorry, smoking isn't allowed./You're not allowed to smoke here.
• Would you mind not talking during the music?
• Could I ask you not to use your phone here, please?
• I'm afraid I have to ask you not to take pictures here.
2. to make something possible
• We hope to visit the cathedral, if time permits.
• I'll come tomorrow, weather permitting (= if the weather is fine).
• The password permits access to all files on the hard disk.
• The length of the report does not permit a detailed discussion of the problems.
• Cash machines permit you to withdraw money at any time.

Extra Examples

• Development is not normally permitted in conservation areas.
• The bill was designed to permit new fathers to take time off work.
• The bill was designed to permit workers to take up to twelve weeks’ unpaid leave annually for family reasons.
• A new constitution permitted the formation of political parties.
• He permitted himself a little smile.
• I’ll come tomorrow, weather permitting.
• People are breathing in more than five times the permitted level of pollutants.
• Permit me to make a suggestion.
• The banks were not permitted to invest overseas.
• The rules of the club do not permit it.
• They were permitted to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they permit
• he / she / it permits
• past simple permitted
• past participle permitted
• -ing form permitting

Word Origin

• late Middle English (originally in the sense ‘commit, hand over’): from Latin permittere, from per- ‘through’ + mittere ‘send, let go’.