connivance

noun

Etymology: From early 18th c., replaced earlier form connivence (late 16th c.), from Latin connīventia, from connīvēns (“winking”).

1. The process of conniving or conspiring.

   “The Abbot’s house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority, were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair.”