permissive

 
Pronunciation: /pəˈmɪsɪv/

adjective

  • 1allowing or characterized by great or excessive freedom of behaviour: a permissive parent the permissive society of the 60s and 70s
  • 2 Law allowed but not obligatory; optional: the Hague Convention was permissive, not mandatory
  • denoting a path available for public use by the landowner’s consent, not as a legal right of way: using permissive footpaths, you can visit meadows on both the banks of the river
  • 3 Biology allowing a biological or biochemical process to occur: the mutants grow well at the permissive temperature

Derivatives

permissively

adverb

permissiveness

noun

Origin:

late 15th century (in the sense 'tolerated, allowed'): from Old French, or from medieval Latin permissivus, from permiss- 'allowed', from the verb permittere (see permit1)