License

How to spell license

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce license

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does license mean?

1. verbTo grant formal or official permission for an activity, product, or premises.
2. nounAn official document or permit granting permission to do, own, or use something.

License in a sentence

• verb

  The council will license the new restaurant to serve alcohol.

• noun

  The officer asked to see his driver's license at the checkpoint.

• verb

  Regulators license pharmaceutical firms to manufacture the drug.

• noun

  She renewed her marriage license at the county office.

Where does license come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb licere, meaning 'to be allowed' or 'to be permitted', from which came the noun licentia, meaning 'freedom' or 'permission'. It entered English in the late 1300s through Old French licence, first as a noun for formal permission to do something. The verb sense, meaning to grant such permission, developed later. A neat spelling logic sits underneath the modern muddle: in British and Canadian usage the noun keeps the French-style 'licence' while the verb is spelled 'license', mirroring the pair 'advice' (noun) and 'advise' (verb), whereas American usage settled on 'license' for both. The same licere root survives in 'licentious' and in 'leisure', a reminder that the core idea has always been about what one is free or permitted to do.

How the word is built

• lic- (from Latin licere: to be allowed)
• -ense (verb-forming ending)

British and American spelling

Both license and licence are correct, depending on where you are writing.