license

Plural: licenses

Noun

• a legal document giving official permission to do something
• freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)
• excessive freedom; lack of due restraint; - Will Durant; - Edmund Burke
  • "when liberty becomes license dictatorship is near"
  • "the intolerable license with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum"
• the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization
• A legal document giving official permission to do something; a permit.
• The legal terms under which a person is allowed to use a product, especially software.
• Freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behaviour or speech).
• Excessive freedom; lack of due restraint.
• Ellipsis of driver's license.

Verb

Verb Forms: licensed, licensing, licenses

• To grant official permission to do something; authorize.
• authorize officially
  • "I am licensed to practice law in this state"
• To authorize officially.
• (applied to a piece of intellectual property)
• To give formal authorization to use.
• (applied to a piece of intellectual property)
• To acquire authorization to use, usually in exchange for compensation.
• To give permission or freedom to; accept.
• To permit (as grammatically correct).

Examples

• I am licensed to practice law in this state.
• In order to enter the building, I need to show my license.
• It was decided to license Wikipedia under the GFDL.
• No English adverbs have mandatory complements, and most don't even license optional ones.
• The filmmakers licensed several iconic 80's songs for the soundtrack.
• The Scrabble judges must license every word played, ensuring its validity.

Synonyms

certify, licence, permission, permit

Antonyms

decertify

Related Words

licensure, licentious