license n
1. a legal document giving official permission to do something [syn: licence, permit]
2. freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech) [syn: licence]
3. excessive freedom; lack of due restraint; "when liberty becomes license dictatorship is near"- Will Durant; "the intolerable license with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum"- Edmund Burke [syn: licence]
4. the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization [syn: permission, permit] v : authorize officially; "I am licensed to practice law in this state" [syn: licence, certify] [ant: decertify]

License \Li"cense\ (l[imac]"sens), n. [Written also licence.] [F. licence, L. licentia, fr. licere to be permitted, prob. orig., to be left free to one; akin to linquere to leave. See Loan, and cf. Illicit, Leisure.]
1. Authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act; especially, a formal permission from the proper authorities to perform certain acts or to carry on a certain business, which without such permission would be illegal; a grant of permission; as, a license to preach, to practice medicine, to sell gunpowder or intoxicating liquors. To have a license and a leave at London to dwell. --P. Plowman.
2. The document granting such permission. --Addison.
3. Excess of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum; disregard of law or propriety. License they mean when they cry liberty. --Milton.
4. That deviation from strict fact, form, or rule, in which an artist or writer indulges, assuming that it will be permitted for the sake of the advantage or effect gained; as, poetic license; grammatical license, etc. Syn: Leave; liberty; permission.

220 catflap.bishopston.net dictd 1.11.2/rf on FreeBSD 8.1-STABLE <131360.93128.1287934883@catflap.bishopston.net>

See more meaning on License...

The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun licence (license in American English) refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.

Licence may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an element of an agreement between those parties. A shorthand definition of a licence is "an authorization (by the licensor) to use the licensed material (by the licensee)."

In particular a licence may be issued by authorities, to allow an activity that would otherwise be forbidden. It may require paying a fee and/or proving a capability. The requirement may also serve to keep the authorities informed on a type of activity, and to give them the opportunity to set conditions and limitations.

A licensor may grant licence under intellectual property laws to authorize a use (such as copying software or using a (patented) invention) to a licensee, sparing the licensee from a claim of infringement brought by the licensor. A licence under intellectual property commonly has several component parts beyond the grant itself, including a term, territory, renewal provisions, and other limitations deemed vital to the licensor.

• CRTC Reschedules CBC License Renewal for November 2012 - Hollywood Reporter
  TORONTO -- The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s twice-delayed license renewal hearing has been rescheduled for the Fall. The CRTC, the country’s TV watchdog, in September 2011 postponed the first license renewal for the public broadcaster in 12 years, and ... Read more on this news related to 'License'
• City revokes license of problem Hollygrove bar Big Time Tips - nola.com
  The New Orleans Alcohol Beverage Control Board has permanently revoked the alcoholic beverage license of Big Time Tips Bar and Lounge at 8801 Edinburgh St. Officials described it as a longtime nuisance bar in the Hollygrove neighborhood. Read more on this news related to 'License'
• License rules can hinder entrepreneurs - Philadelphia Daily News
  NEW YORK — Many people dream of opening their own business. But some would-be entrepreneurs are finding that state licensing requirements are so arduous that it would take years and thousands of dollars before they ever would be able to hang ... Read more on this news related to 'License'