license

English

Alternative forms

• (UK) licence (noun)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪsəns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: li‧cense

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.
   • 1986, Thomas Smedinghoff, The Legal Guide to Developing, Protecting, and Marketing Software‎^[1], page 166:

     Thus, while the license will grant the user the right to use the software, a major concern is the scope of that use. For example, will the user be granted the right to copy, modify, or transfer the software?

3. Freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behaviour or speech).
   • 2012, Chris Seepe, The Conspiracy to Assassinate Jesus Christ‎^[2], 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.

Usage notes

• In British English, Canadian English, Australian English, Irish English, South African 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.

Translations

legal document giving official permission to do something

• Albanian: liçensë f
• Arabic: رُخْصَة f (ruḵṣa)

  Egyptian Arabic: رخصة f (ruḵṣa)

• Armenian: լիցենզիա (hy) (licʻenzia)
• Azerbaijani: lisenziya (az)
• Belarusian: ліцэ́нзія f (licénzija), дазво́л m (dazvól)
• Bengali: লাইসেন্স (laiśenśo)
• Bulgarian: лице́нзия f (licénzija)
• Burmese: လိုင်စင် (my) (luingcang)
• Catalan: llicència (ca) f, permís (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 許可證／许可证 (zh) (xǔkězhèng), 许可证 (zh) (xǔkězhèng)

• Coptic: ⲁⲣⲣⲱⲕⲥⲉ f (arrōkse)
• Czech: licence (cs) f
• Danish: tilladelse (da) c (permission), licens c
• Dutch: vergunning (nl) f
• Esperanto: permesilo
• Estonian: litsents, luba
• Finnish: lupakirja (fi), -kortti (fi), valtakirja (fi) (general); ajokortti (fi) (driver's license)
• French: licence (fr) f
• Georgian: ლიცენზია (licenzia)
• German: Lizenz (de) f, Erlaubnis (de) f, Genehmigung (de) f, Schein (de) m
• Greek: άδεια (el) f (ádeia)
• Hawaiian: palapala ʻae
• Hindi: लाइसेंस (hi) m (lāisẽs), अनुज्ञा (hi) (anujñā)
• Hungarian: engedély (hu), licenc
• Icelandic: leyfi (is) n
• Irish: ceadúnas m
• Italian: licenza (it) f, permesso (it) m
• Japanese: ライセンス (raisensu), 免許 (ja) (めんきょ, menkyo)
• Kazakh: лицензия (lisenziä)
• Khmer: អាជ្ញាប័ណ្ណ (km) (ʼaacñaaban), ពែរមី (pɛɛmii)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 면허증 (ko) (myeonheojeung)
• Kyrgyz: лицензия (ky) (litsenziya)
• Lao: ອະນຸຍາດ (ʼa nu nyāt)
• Latvian: licence f
• Lithuanian: licencija f
• Macedonian: лиценца f (licenca)
• Malay: lesen
• Maori: raihana (mi)
• Mongolian: үнэмлэх (mn) (ünemlex)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lisens m, tillatelse (no) m

• Persian: لیسانس (fa) (lisâns), پروانه (fa) (parvâne), رخصت (fa) (roxsat)
• Polish: licencja (pl) f, pozwolenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: alvará (pt) f, licença (pt) f
• Romanian: licență (ro) f
• Russian: лице́нзия (ru) f (licénzija), удостовере́ние (ru) n (udostoverénije), разреше́ние (ru) n (razrešénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лѝце̄нца f

  Roman: lìcēnca (sh) f

• Slovak: licencia f
• Slovene: licenca f
• Spanish: licencia (es) f, permiso (es) m
• Swedish: licens (sv) c, tillstånd (sv) n (permission), tillståndshandling c (document)
• Tajik: литсензия (litsenziya), парвона (parvona), рухсат (ruxsat)
• Thai: อนุญาต (th) (à-nú-yâat)
• Turkish: ruhsat (tr), lisans (tr)
• Turkmen: lisenziýa, rugsat
• Ukrainian: ліце́нзія (uk) f (licénzija), до́звіл (uk) m (dózvil)
• Urdu: لائسنس m (lāisens)
• Uzbek: litsenziya (uz), ruxsat (uz), parvona (uz)
• Vietnamese: giấy phép (vi), bằng (vi)
• Welsh: trwydded (cy) f

legal terms of product usage

• Arabic: رُخْصَة f (ruḵṣa)
• Azerbaijani: lisenziya (az)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 執照／执照 (zh) (zhízhào), 执照 (zh) (zhízhào)

• Czech: licence (cs) f
• Dutch: licentie (nl) f, vergunning (nl) f
• Esperanto: permesilo
• Finnish: lisenssi (fi)
• French: licence (fr) f
• German: Lizenz (de) f
• Greek: άδεια (el) f (ádeia)
• Hungarian: engedély (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: licenza (it) f
• Japanese: 免許 (ja) (めんきょ, menkyo), ライセンス (raisensu)
• Korean: 면허 (ko) (myeonheo) (免許 (ko)), 라이선스 (raiseonseu), 라이센스 (ko) (raisenseu)
• Maori: raihana (mi)
• Persian: لیسانس (fa) (lisâns)
• Polish: licencja (pl) f
• Portuguese: licença (pt) f
• Russian: лице́нзия (ru) f (licénzija)
• Spanish: licencia (es) f
• Swedish: licens (sv)
• Turkish: lisans (tr)

freedom to deviate from rules

• Dutch: vergunning (nl) f
• Finnish: vapaus (fi)
• Polish: swawola f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: licença (pt) f
• Spanish: licencia (es) f

excessive freedom

• Dutch: bandeloosheid (nl) f
• Finnish: vastuuttomuus (fi)
• Japanese: 放縦 (ja) (hōjū), やりたい放題 (yaritai hōdai)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: swawola f
• Spanish: licencia (es) f, permisividad

Verb

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

Derived terms

• licensable
• licensee
• license plate

• licenser
• licensor

Translations

act of giving a formal authorization

• Dutch: licentiëren, vergunning (nl) toekennen (nl)
• Finnish: lisensioida, valtuuttaa (fi)
• German: lizenzieren (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: raihana (mi)
• Swedish: licensiera (sv), ge tillstånd (sv) (use: ge ngn. tillstånd att göra ngt.))
• Welsh: trwyddedu (cy)

authorize officially

• Dutch: toelaten (nl), licentiëren, vergunning (nl) toekennen (nl)
• Finnish: valtuuttaa (fi)
• German: lizenzieren (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: αδειοδοτώ (adeiodotó), δίνω άδεια (díno ádeia)
• Maori: raihana (mi)
• Swedish: licensiera (sv), ge tillstånd (sv) (use: ge ngn. tillstånd att göra ngt.))

Further reading

• “license”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “license”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Template:projectlink

Anagrams

• selenic, silence