permittance
Definition
Noun:
1. Permission (archaic): The act of allowing or granting consent.
- Historical usage: "permittance" was formerly used to mean the formal act of permitting something.
2. Electrical capacitance (archaic, technical): A measure of a system's ability to store an electric charge; synonymous with capacitance.
- Obsolete usage: In early electrical theory, "permittance" referred to the capacity of a conductor or capacitor.
Usage Examples
- Permission sense:
- The king's permittance of the trade route was a significant political move. (The king’s formal permission allowed the route to be used.)
- Electrical sense:
- The permittance of the Leyden jar was measured in farads. (The jar’s ability to store charge was quantified.)
Advanced Usage
- Archaic phrase: "by permittance" — meaning "with permission."
- The scholar entered the library by permittance of the dean. (He was allowed entry with the dean’s consent.)
Variants and Related Words
- Permit (verb): to allow or authorize.
- The teacher will permit late submissions. (She will allow them.)
- Permissive (adj): granting freedom or tolerance.
- The permissive rules allowed students to choose their seats. (The rules were lenient.)
- Permissibility (noun): the state of being allowable.
- The permissibility of the action was debated. (Whether it was allowed was discussed.)
Synonyms
- Permission: formal consent or authorization.
- Consent: agreement or approval.
- Capacitance: modern term for electrical storage capacity.
Related Idioms
- "To give one's permittance" (archaic): to grant formal approval.
- The council gave its permittance to the new building project. (They officially approved it.)
Notes
- "Permittance" is largely obsolete in modern English. In contemporary usage, permission is standard for the “granting of consent” meaning, and capacitance is the standard term in physics and engineering. Use of "permittance" today is rare and may be considered archaic or technical jargon.