licence

[ lahy-suhns ]

noun

1. Chiefly British. a variant of license.

licence

/ ˈlaɪsəns /

noun

1. a certificate, tag, document, etc, giving official permission to do something
2. formal permission or exemption
3. liberty of action or thought; freedom
4. intentional disregard of or deviation from conventional rules to achieve a certain effect

   poetic licence

5. excessive freedom
6. licentiousness

Word History and Origins

Origin of licence¹

C14: via Old French and Medieval Latin licentia permission, from Latin: freedom, from licet it is allowed

Example Sentences

No commercial licences will be granted by the ISA without a full environmental-impact assessment.

From Time

Adverts for unofficial services selling government documents such as travel permits and driving licences are against Google’s own rules.

From Search Engine Land

When I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver’s licence, my keys.

From Time

Hulagu then gave his men licence to rape, kill and plunder with the caveat that Christians and Jews were to be spared.

From The Daily Beast

Thus Ney returned to France in disgrace with his comrades, and hated by his enemies owing to the licence he allowed his soldiers.

From Project Gutenberg

On July 19 a proclamation was issued forbidding the possession of firearms without licence.

From Project Gutenberg

In 1904 there was only one drinking-saloon, kept by a Bohemian-born American, who paid $6,000 a year for his monopoly licence.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet who could truthfully charge her with having obtained her divorce in order thereby to claim any fresh licence for herself?

From Project Gutenberg

It contains a vigorous attack on the licence of the press and of the "impudent, rascally Printer."

From Project Gutenberg