permission

permission, leave, sufferance denote the sanction which enables one to do something that requires the consent of those in authority.

Permission is the ordinary term except in some conventional phrases; it commonly implies the power or authority to grant or to refuse what is asked

{

have the owner's permission to hunt on his estate

}

{

"The horses can go in our barn. I'm sure Mr. Forrester would have no objection." She spoke as if he had asked her permission— Cather

}

Leave differs very little from per-mission. It occurs chiefly in conventionally courteous phrases such as "by your leave," "to ask leave " and "give me leave" but it may be used elsewhere in place of permission

{

ask for leave to remove papers from a file

}

In military, naval, and some official use the term implies official permission to absent oneself from one's duties or from one's station for a fixed period of time, or the furlough or absence so permitted

{

granted a leave of thirty days

}

{

after being absent without leave for a month, the soldier was arrested as a deserter

}

{

at home on sick leave

}

Sufferance usually implies a neglect or refusal to forbid and therefore suggests either a tacit permission withdrawable on cause or, more often, merely allowing a person to be present or to do something

{

you are here only on sufferance and if you want to stay, you must listen without interrupting

}

{

he comes among us on sufferance, like those concert singers whom mamma treats with so much politeness— Thackeray

}

Analogous words: authorization, commissioning or commission, licensing or license (see corresponding verbs at AUTHORIZE): letting, allowing (see LET): sanctioning, approval, endorsement (see corresponding verbs at APPROVE)

Antonyms: prohibition