WordWeb Online

1. (law) a legal document giving official permission to do something
   - license [N. Amer], permit
    
2. Freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behaviour or speech)
   - license [N. Amer]
    
3. Excessive freedom; lack of due restraint
   "when liberty becomes licence dictatorship is near"; "the intolerable licence with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum";
   - license [N. Amer]
    
4. The act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization
   - license [N. Amer], permission, permit

1. Authorize officially
   "I am licenced to practice law in this state";
   - license, certify

Derived forms: licencing, licences, licenced

Type of: authorisation [Brit], authorise [Brit], authorization, authorize, clear, empowerment, instrument, legal document, legal instrument, liberty, official document, pass

Antonym: derecognise [Brit]

Encyclopedia: Licence