Licence

How to spell licence

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce licence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does licence mean?

1. nounAn official permit or document granting permission to own, do, or use something.

Licence in a sentence

• The driving licence in his wallet had expired the week before.

• The restaurant lost its licence to sell alcohol after the inspection.

Where does licence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin licentia, which meant 'freedom', 'liberty', or 'permission to act', and was itself formed from the verb licere, meaning 'to be allowed' or 'to be permitted'. It travelled into English through Old French as licence during the 1300s, carrying the sense of formal permission granted by an authority. Over time it gathered both the literal meaning of an official document granting a right and the looser sense of taking liberties, as in 'poetic licence'. In British and Canadian usage the spelling splits neatly by part of speech: the noun is 'licence' with a c, while the verb is 'license' with an s, mirroring the older pair 'advice' (noun) and 'advise' (verb). American English collapsed that distinction and uses 'license' for both, which is exactly why the c spelling now looks unfamiliar to so many writers.

How the word is built

• lic- (from Latin licere: to be allowed)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)

British and American spelling

Licence is the British spelling. American English spells it license.