Etymology

illicit

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Today it means: Not approved by law, but not invalid. Full definition →

French illicite ← Latin illicitus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromillicitus
  2. French · borrowed fromillicite
  3. English todayillicit

Borrowed from French illicite, from Latin illicitus, from in- (“not”) + licitus (“allowed, permitted”), from licet (“it is allowed”). By surface analysis, il- + licit.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.