Meaning
Official permission or authorization to go ahead with a plan; the signal that clears the way forward, applied to business, government and personal decisions alike. Common as give or get the green light, and increasingly as a verb, to green-light a project. Neutral-to-informal register, ubiquitous in business and news writing; the tone is usually brisk and positive. Regional use: General English.
Origin
Literal green lights served as signals long before roads had traffic lights: the OED's earliest evidence for green light, an entry of 1899 covering three senses, is from 1883 in the London Daily News, and the entry records both the rail and street signal and the extended signal-meaning of permission to go ahead. Etymonline likewise notes green and red as railway signals from 1883, introduced as nighttime substitutes for semaphore flags, and dates the general figurative sense of permission from 1937, by which time roadside traffic signals had made the colour code universal. The transfer from coloured signal to general go-ahead is the whole story; no competing legend exists.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- get the green light
- green light to proceed
- green-light something
Usage Examples
- The council finally gave the green light to the footbridge, three years after the petition was filed.
- Once the insurer signs off, we are green-lit to start shooting in March.
- Her father's grudging nod was all the green light she needed to book the flights.