poetica licentia

Latin

Etymology

Literally, “poetic licence”.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /poˈeː.ti.ka liˈken.ti.a/, [poˈeːt̪ɪkä lʲɪˈkɛn̪t̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /poˈe.ti.ka liˈt͡ʃen.t͡si.a/, [poˈɛːt̪ikä liˈt͡ʃɛnt̪͡s̪iä]

Noun

poētica licentia f (genitive poēticae licentiae); first declension

1. (rhetoric) poetic licence (any departure from convention or from factual accuracy taken to achieve a desired effect)
   • c. 95 CE, Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory 2.4.3:

     […] neque rursus sinuosa et arcessitis descriptionibus, in quas plerique imitatione poeticae licentiae ducuntur, lasciviat.

     […] nor, on the other hand, should it be sinuous or frolic in extraneous descriptions, in which most people are led into by imitation of poetic license.

Declension

First-declension noun with a first-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	poētica licentia	poēticae licentiae
Genitive	poēticae licentiae	poēticārum licentiārum
Dative	poēticae licentiae	poēticīs licentiīs
Accusative	poēticam licentiam	poēticās licentiās
Ablative	poēticā licentiā	poēticīs licentiīs
Vocative	poētica licentia	poēticae licentiae

Descendants

• → Polish: licentia poetica

References

• “licentia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press