licit
/ˈlɪs.ɪt/
"licit" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“licit” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
Corpus desk
Index EN-licit · licit · English
licit · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | licit |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈlɪs.ɪt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “licit” in English
Rare enough to double-check
licit is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈlɪs.ɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
licit has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin licitus (“lawful”), perfect participle of licet (“[it] is permitted”, impersonal verb). The correct English form is licit, spelled L-I-C-I-T.
Definition
- 1Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
- 2Explicitly established or constituted by law.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how licit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Undated, Pope Honorius III Solet Annuere (anonymous translator), Let it not be in any way licit to anyone among men to infringe this page of our confirmation, or to contravene it with rash daring.
You seem to have been very much offended because your father talks a little sculduddery after dinner, which it is perfectly licit for him to do, and which (although I am not very fond of it myself) appears to be entirely an affair of taste.
Etymology
From Latin licitus (“lawful”), perfect participle of licet (“[it] is permitted”, impersonal verb).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.