Illicit

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From French illicite, from Latin illicitus, from in- 'not' + licet 'it is allowed'.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈlɪsɪt/, SAMPA: /I"lIsIt/

  Rhymes: -ɪsɪt

• Homophones: elicit

Adjective

illicit

1. (law) Lacking licitness, but not invalid.

   The bigamous marriage, while illicit, was not invalid.

2. Breaking social norms.
3. Unlawful.

Usage notes

Licit and valid are legal terms to be compared, especially in terms of canon law. With bigamy, if there is an innocent party, the innocent party is validly married; the problem is with the guilty party, who has entered into an illegal second marriage without first divorcing the earlier spouse. The marriage is valid in canon law (and often, civil law), but the guilty party goes to jail nonetheless, in that the marriage is illicit (and illegal), and the innocent party routinely receives a fast annulment and the full sympathy of the court. A corollary is that the children born of such unions are inherently legitimate.

Synonyms

• criminal
• illegal
• illegitimate
• prohibited
• unlawful

Translations

lacking licitness

Finnish: luvaton fi(fi) French: illicite fr(fr)

Greek: παράνομος el(el), έκνομος el(el) Portuguese: ilícito pt(pt)

breaking social norms

Finnish: luvaton fi(fi), laiton fi(fi) French: illicite

Greek: αθέμιτος el(el) Portuguese: ilícito

unlawful

French: illicite Greek: παράνομος, έκνομος

Portuguese: ilícito

fr:illicit io:illicit kn:illicit ku:illicit hu:illicit pl:illicit fi:illicit ta:illicit te:illicit vi:illicit zh:illicit