License meaning

What does “license” mean? Definitions, examples, synonyms and opposites.

“license” is a noun and verb with 5 meanings. Its most common meaning is: a legal document giving official permission to do something.

license

noun

  1. a legal document giving official permission to do something

  2. freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)

    Synonymslicence
  3. excessive freedom; lack of due restraint

    “when liberty becomes license dictatorship is near”

    “the intolerable license with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum”

    Synonymslicence
  4. the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization

verb

  1. authorize officially

    “I am licensed to practice law in this state”

Source: WordNet 3.1, Princeton University