Link Centre Dictionary

license

li·cense

UK/ˈlaɪ.səns/ US/ˈlaɪsʌns/ common us
noun (4) verb (1)

noun

1.
2.

freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)

Synonyms
3.

excessive freedom; lack of due restraint

  • “when liberty becomes license dictatorship is near” Will Durant
  • “the intolerable license with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum” Edmund Burke
Synonyms
4.

verb

1.

authorize officially

  • “I am licensed to practice law in this state”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English licence, licens, lisence, lissens, licance, from Old French licence, from Latin licentia (“license”), from licens, present participle of licere (“to be allowed, be allowable”); compare linquere, Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave”).

Phrases

  • artistic license
  • bare license
  • beginner's license
  • BSD license
  • clickwrap license
  • crayon license
  • dramatic license
  • driver's license

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.