Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


License

Li′cense

(lī′sens)
,
Noun.
[Written also
licence
.]
[F.
licence
, L.
licentia
, fr.
licere
to be permitted, prob. orig., to be left free to one; akin to
linquere
to leave. See
Loan
, and cf.
Illicit
,
Leisure
.]
1.
Authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act; especially, a formal permission from the proper authorities to perform certain acts or to carry on a certain business, which without such permission would be illegal; a grant of permission;
as, a
license
to preach, to practice medicine, to sell gunpowder or intoxicating liquors
.
To have a
license
and a leave at London to dwell.
P. Plowman.
2.
The document granting such permission.
Addison.
3.
Excess of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum; disregard of law or propriety.
License
they mean when they cry liberty.
Milton.
4.
That deviation from strict fact, form, or rule, in which an artist or writer indulges, assuming that it will be permitted for the sake of the advantage or effect gained;
as, poetic
license
; grammatical
license
, etc.
Syn. – Leave; liberty; permission.

Li′cense

(lī′sens)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Licensed
(lī′senst)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Licensing
.]
To permit or authorize by license; to give license to;
as, to
license
a man to preach
.
Milton.
Shak.

Syn. – licence, certify.

Webster 1828 Edition


License

LI'CENSE

,
Noun.
[L. licentia, from liceo, to be permitted.]
1.
Leave; permission; authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act. A license may be verbal or written; when written, the paper containing the authority is called a license. A man is not permitted to retail spirituous liquors till he has obtained a license.
2.
Excess of liberty; exorbitant freedom; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum.
License they mean, when they cry liberty.

LI'CENSE

, v.t.
1.
To permit by grant of authority; to remove legal restraint by a grant of permission; as, to license a man to keep an inn.
2.
To authorize to act in a particular character; as, to license a physician or a lawyer.
3.
To dismiss. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024


license

license

English

Alternative forms

Noun

license (countable and uncountable, plural licenses)

  1. A legal document giving official permission to do something; a permit.
  2. The legal terms under which a person is allowed to use a product, especially software.
    Even if you bought this product, it does NOT belong to you. You have a license to use it under the terms of this agreement, until you breach this agreement.
  3. Freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech).
    • (Can we date this quote?), Chris Seepe, The Conspiracy to Assassinate Jesus Christ (ISBN 0987819305), page 5:
      In some instances, the author took license to include events which never happened, or to purposely create events which may run in the face of popular conjecture if the author felt it would help the story along.
  4. Excessive freedom; lack of due restraint.
    • 1936, Will Durant and Ariel Durant, The Story of Civilization, page 520:
      When liberty becomes license dictatorship is near.
  5. An academic degree, the holder of which is called a licentiate, ranking slightly below doctorate, awarded by certain European and Latin-American universities.

Usage notes

  • In British English, Canadian English, Australian English, Irish English, and New Zealand English the noun is spelt licence and the verb is license.
  • The spelling licence is not used for either part of speech in the United States.

Hyponyms

Translations

Verb

license (third-person singular simple present licenses, present participle licensing, simple past and past participle licensed)

  1. The act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization.
    • 2013 June 22, T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:
      The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.
    It was decided to license Wikipedia under the GFDL.
  2. Authorize officially.
    I am licensed to practice law in this state.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams