permissive

English

Etymology

From French permissif.

Adjective

permissive (comparative more permissive, superlative most permissive)

1. Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient.
   • 1962 October, “Talking of Trains: The collisions at Connington”, in Modern Railways, page 232:

     "Permissive" working allows more than one train to be in a block section at one time but trains must be run at low speed in order to stop on sight behind the train in front. Such working is often authorised to allow freight trains to "bunch" together to await a path through a bottleneck instead of being strung out over several block sections, as would be necessary if absolute working were in force.

2. (of a footpath, bridleway or similar) Open to the public by permission of the landowner.
3. (biology) That allows the replication of viruses.

   Antonym: nonpermissive

Related terms

• nonpermissive
• semipermissive
• permissive waste
• permissiveness
• permissively
• permissive-action link
• permissive mood

Translations

lenient

• Bulgarian: разрешаващ (bg) (razrešavašt)
• Catalan: permissiu
• Dutch: verdraagzaam (nl), toegevend (nl), tolerant (nl), lankmoedig (nl)
• Finnish: salliva (fi), suvaitsevainen (fi)
• French: permissif (fr)
• Hungarian: engedékeny (hu), elnéző (hu), megengedő (hu)
• Italian: permissivo (it)
• Norwegian: tolerant
• Portuguese: permissivo (pt)
• Spanish: permisivo (es), laxo (es)

Anagrams

• impressive

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ.mi.siv/
• Rhymes: -iv
• Homophone: permissives

Adjective

permissive

1. feminine singular of permissif

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

permissive

1. inflection of permissiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

permissive

1. feminine plural of permissivo