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licence

American  
[lahy-suhns] / ˈlaɪ səns /

noun

  1. Chiefly British. a variant of license.


licence British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of licence

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The centre was previously used for lorry exams but started issuing driving licences in 2018.

From BBC

Salmon already had nine points on his licence and received three more for travelling at 24mph in a 20mph zone in London last March.

From BBC

Out on licence after just two years, he broke his parole terms and ran back to Canada in 1987, where Lee called the police when he contacted her.

From BBC

It is an offence to remove buried human remains without a licence.

From BBC

The animals cannot be rehomed, explains Mrs Mansfield, with many requiring licences to keep them under the auspices of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.

From BBC