| English Dictionary |
LICENCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does licence mean?
• LICENCE (noun)
The noun LICENCE has 3 senses:
1. excessive freedom; lack of due restraint
2. freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)
3. a legal document giving official permission to do something
Familiarity information: LICENCE used as a noun is uncommon.
• LICENCE (verb)
The verb LICENCE has 1 sense:
1. authorize officially
Familiarity information: LICENCE used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Excessive freedom; lack of due restraint
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
licence; license
Context example:
the intolerable license with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum
Hypernyms ("licence" is a kind of...):
liberty (freedom of choice)
Derivation:
licentious (lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
licence; license
Hypernyms ("licence" is a kind of...):
liberty (freedom of choice)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "licence"):
poetic license (license used by a writer or artist to heighten the effect of their work)
Derivation:
licence (authorize officially)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A legal document giving official permission to do something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
Hypernyms ("licence" is a kind of...):
instrument; legal document; legal instrument; official document ((law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right)
Domain category:
jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "licence"):
building permit (a document authorizing the holder to construct a building of a particular kind on a particular lot)
driver's licence; driver's license; driving licence; driving license (a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle)
fishing licence; fishing license; fishing permit (a license authorizing the bearer to fish during a specified period of time)
game license; hunting licence; hunting license; hunting permit (a license authorizing the bearer to kill a certain type of animal during a specified period of time)
learner's permit (a document authorizing the bearer to learn to drive an automobile)
letter of mark and reprisal; letter of marque; letters of marque (a license to a private citizen to seize property of another nation)
liquor licence; liquor license (a license authorizing the holder to sell alcoholic beverages)
marriage licence; marriage license; wedding licence; wedding license (a license authorizing two people to marry)
occupation licence; occupation license (a license to pursue a particular occupation)
liberty chit; pass (a permit to enter or leave a military installation)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it licences Past simple: licenced
Past participle: licenced
-ing form: licencing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Authorize officially
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
Context example:
I am licensed to practice law in this state
Hypernyms (to "licence" is one way to...):
authorise; authorize; clear; pass (grant authorization or clearance for)
"Licence" entails doing...:
approve; O.K.; okay; sanction (give sanction to)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "licence"):
franchise (grant a franchise to)
charter (grant a charter to)
accredit; recognise; recognize (grant credentials to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Derivation:
licence (freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech))
licensee (someone to whom a license is granted)
Context examples
I am going to take out the licence.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
And during all this time free licence had been theirs, from their masters, to kill the things of the Wild.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
We must become one flesh without any delay, Jane: there is but the licence to get—then we marry.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
To think only of the licence which every rehearsal must tend to create.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
'Tis as good as a Lord! And a special licence. You must and shall be married by a special licence. But my dearest love, tell me what dish Mr. Darcy is particularly fond of, that I may have it to-morrow.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Nor can I truly say that I wearied of this beneficent and innocent life; I think instead that I daily enjoyed it more completely; but I was still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the first edge of my penitence wore off, the lower side of me, so long indulged, so recently chained down, began to growl for licence.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
In a similar feeling of delicacy, we were always blithe and light-hearted with the licence clients.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
“Upon my word, it is really a pity that it should not take place directly, if we had but a proper licence, for here we are altogether, and nothing in the world could be more snug and pleasant.”
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I seem to have been carrying the licence about, in my pocket, many months.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Marriage licences and small probates were what we all looked for, and what paid us best; and the competition for these ran very high indeed.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"If a man is to do something more than human, he must have more than human powers." (Native American proverb, tribe unknown)
"Leading by example is better than commandments." (Arabic proverb)
"All too good is neighbours fool." (Dutch proverb)