licet

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *likēt, from a root of the shape *leyk-, with no certain cognates outside of Italic. Cognate with liceor, liceō, Oscan 𐌋𐌝𐌊𐌝𐌕𐌖𐌃 (líkítud, “it is permitted”); outside of Italic, compare perhaps Lithuanian reikė́ti (“to need”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈli.ket/, [ˈlʲɪkɛt̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.t͡ʃet/, [ˈliːt͡ʃet̪]

Verb

licet (present infinitive licēre, perfect active licuit or licitum est, future participle licitūrus); second conjugation, no passive

1. (with dative) to be allowed; to be permitted

   Licetne pauca?

   May I speak a word with you?

   (literally, “Are a few [words] permitted?”)

   Quod licet Iovī, nōn licet bovī

   Gods may do what cattle may not

   (literally, “What is permissible for Jupiter is not permissible for an ox”)

   • 16 BCE, Ovid, The Loves 3.4:

     Cui peccare licet, peccat minus.

     To whom it is allowed to sin, sins less.

2. (impersonal, with subjunctive or, post-classically, indicative) although, even if
   • Juvenal, Saturae 1.105:

     licet ipse negam

     even if I were to deny it

Conjugation

   Conjugation of licet (second conjugation, mostly impersonal, active-only)

indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	—	licet	—	—	licent
	imperfect	—	—	licēbat	—	—	licēbant
	future	—	—	licēbit	—	—	—
	perfect	—	—	licuit, licitum est	—	—	—
	pluperfect	—	—	licuerat, licitum erat	—	—	—
	future perfect	—	—	licuerit, licitum erit	—	—	—
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	—	liceat	—	—	liceant
	imperfect	—	—	licēret	—	—	—
	perfect	—	—	licuerit, licitum sit	—	—	—
	pluperfect	—	—	licuisset, licitum esset	—	—	—
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	future	—	licētō	licētō	—	—	—
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		licēre	licuisse, licitum esse	licitūrum esse	—	—	—
participles		licēns	licitus	licitūrus	—	—	—

Derived terms

• licēns
• licitus
• īlicet
• scīlicet
• vidēlicet

Descendants

• Franco-Provençal: lêsir
• Old French: loisir, leisir, licence
  • French: loisir, loisible
  • Angevin: laisir, laisible
  • Gallo: laisir, laisible
  • Norman: leisir, leisible
    • → English: leisure, license
  • → Old Galician-Portuguese: lezer
    • Galician: lecer
    • Portuguese: lazer
• Old Irish: liced, ced
  • Irish: cead

References

• “licet”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “licet”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• licet in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • this much I can vouch for: illud pro certo affirmare licet
    
  • allow me to say: pace tua dixerim or dicere liceat
    
  • I have no objection: per me licet
    
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 669