Illicit

How to spell illicit

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce illicit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does illicit mean?

1. adjectiveForbidden by law or by accepted rules; not permitted.

Illicit in a sentence

• Customs officers seized a shipment of illicit goods at the border.

• The manager was fired for forming an illicit deal with a supplier.

Where does illicit come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin illicitus, meaning 'not allowed', formed from the negative prefix in- (here assimilated to il- before the letter l) and licitus, the past participle of licere, a verb that literally meant 'to be permitted' or 'to be lawful'. English took it in during the late 1500s, partly through French, with the steady sense of something forbidden by law or social rule. The same licere root sits behind several familiar relatives: 'licence' and 'licit' both trace back to it, and even 'leisure' shares the ancestry, since leisure originally meant time you were permitted to have. The doubled l at the start is the giveaway to its meaning, because it is really il- plus licit, and remembering that the prefix means 'not' helps fix both the spelling and the difference from its sound-alike 'elicit', which has a single l and means to draw something out.

How the word is built

• il- (not)
• licit (lawful, from Latin licere: to be allowed)