- licence
- License Li"cense (l[imac]"sens), n. [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.
[1913 Webster]
To have a license and a leave at London to dwell. --P. Plowman. [1913 Webster]
2. The document granting such permission. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
3. Excess of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum; disregard of law or propriety. [1913 Webster]
License they mean when they cry liberty. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Leave; liberty; permission. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.