license

English

Alternative forms

• (British and Canadian) licence (noun)

Usage notes

In British and chiefly in Canadian English, licence is a noun and license is a verb.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlaɪsəns/, SAMPA: /"laIs@ns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: li‧cense

Noun

Wikipedia license (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).
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.

Translations

legal document giving official permission to do something

Azeri: lisenziya (az) Dutch: vergunning (nl) f. Esperanto: permesilo (eo) Finnish: lupakirja (fi), -kortti (fi), valtakirja (fi) (general); ajokortti (fi) (driver's license) German: Lizenz (de) f. Greek: άδεια (el) f.

Hungarian: vezetői engedély (hu) Malay: lesen (ms) Portuguese: licença (pt) f. Russian: лицензия (ru) (licénzija) f. Spanish: licencia (es) f. Turkish: lisans (tr)

legal terms of product usage

Arabic: رخصة (ar) (rúkhSa) f. Azeri: lisenziya (az) Chinese: Mandarin: 執照 (cmn),执照 (cmn) (zhízhào) Czech: licence (cs) f. Dutch: licentie (nl) f., vergunning (nl) f. Esperanto: permesilo (eo) Finnish: lisenssi (fi) French: licence (fr) f. German: Lizenz (de) f.

Greek: άδεια (el) f. Hungarian: engedély (hu) Italian: licenza (it) f. Japanese: 免許 (ja) (めんきょ, menkyo) Korean: 면허 (ko) (myeonheo) (免許 (ko)) Portuguese: licença (pt) f. Russian: лицензия (ru) (licénzija) f. Spanish: licencia (es) f. Swedish: licens (sv) Turkish: lisans (tr)

freedom to deviate from normally applicable rules or practices

Dutch: vergunning (nl) f.

Finnish: poikkeuslupa (fi)

excessive freedom

Dutch: bandeloosheid (nl) f.

Finnish: avoin valtakirja (fi)

academic degree

Dutch: licentiaat (nl) n. Finnish: lisensiaatin tutkinto (fi) French: licence (fr) f.

Khmer: បរិញ្ញាបត្រ (km) (pak ri nha bat) Portuguese: licenciatura (pt) f. Spanish: licenciatura (es) f. Turkish: lisans (tr)

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.

   It was decided to license Wikipedia under the GFDL.

2. Authorize officially.

   I am licensed to practice law in this state.

Derived terms

• licensable
• licensee
• license plate
• licenser
• licensor

Translations

act of giving a formal authorization

Dutch: licentiëren (nl), vergunning (nl) toekennen (nl) Finnish: lisensioida (fi), valtuuttaa (fi)

German: lizenzieren (de) Welsh: trwyddedu (cy)

authorize officially

Dutch: toelaten (nl), licentiëren (nl), vergunning (nl) toekennen (nl) Finnish: valtuuttaa (fi)

German: lizenzieren (de) Greek: αδειοδοτώ (el), δίνω άδεια (el)

External links

• license in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• license in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• selenic
• silence