See Also: licence(dictionary)
off-licence(dictionary)
licence(dictionary)
off-licence(dictionary)
Licence(law)
driving licence(dictionary)
marriage licence(dictionary)
poetic licence(dictionary)
provisional licence(dictionary)
special licence(dictionary)

licence (iou)



licence noun. Also *license. LME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin licentia liberty, freedom, licentiousness, (in medieval Latin) authority, permission, from licent- pres. ppl stem of licere be allowed: see -ENCE.]
Liberty, esp. to do something; leave, permission. Formerly also, exemption from something. LME.
W. Blackstone The king..may..prohibit any of his subjects from going into foreign parts without licence. K. Waterhouse He seized on it as licence to raise..the point of information.
b. spec. Leave or permission to depart. Chiefly in take one's licence. L15-M16.
Formal, usu. printed or written, permission from an authority to do something (esp. marry, print or publish a book, preach, drive on a public road, or carry on some trade (esp. in alcoholic liquor)), or to own something (esp. a dog, gun, or television set); a document giving such permission; a permit. LME.
driving licence, marriage licence, road fund licence, television licence, etc. late licence: see LATE adjective.
G. Orwell They had had a pub, but they had lost their licence for allowing gambling. Shetland Times They are also looking for people using black and white licences for colour television.
b. In some universities and colleges, a certificate of competence in a faculty. M16.
Liberty of action conceded or acknowledged; freedom; an instance of this. LME.
D. Storey You..put down your thoughts..and allow your imagination a little licence. B. T. Bradford Old people believe..age gives them the licence to say exactly what they think.
b. Excessive liberty or disregard for law or propriety; an instance of this. LME.
S. Sassoon The thriftless licence of war-time behaviour. A. Bevan They..warn us that 'we must distinguish between freedom and licence'.
c. Licentiousness. E18.
G. M. Trevelyan Churchmen and Dissenters co-operated against the licence of the age.
A writer's or artist's irregularity in grammar, metre, perspective, etc., or deviation from fact, esp. for effect; an example of this. Freq. in poetic licence. M16.
Comb.: licence plate (chiefly N. Amer.) a number plate of a licensed motor vehicle.
licenceless adjective not possessing a licence E20.