License Meaning
/ˈlaɪ.səns/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA legal document giving official permission to do something; a permit.
nounThe legal terms under which a person is allowed to use a product, especially software.
Sentence Examples
I think you'll have very little difficulty in getting a driver's license.
You're still too young to get a driver's license.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To drive a car in the US, you must have a valid ____ before hitting the road.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The software company granted us a ____ to use their product on up to ten different computers in our office.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English licence, licens, lisence, lissens, licance, from Old French licence, from Latin licentia (“license”), from licens, present participle of licere (“to be allowed, be allowable”); compare linquere, Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Hello. I would like to buy a fish licence please."
— 1970, 0:1:15 from the start, in Monty Python's Flying Circus, season 2, episode 10, John Cleese (actor):
"Thus, while the license will grant the user the right to use the software, a major concern is the scope of that use. For example, will the user be granted the right to copy, modify, or transfer the software?"
— 1986, Thomas Smedinghoff, The Legal Guide to Developing, Protecting, and Marketing Software, page 166:
"In some instances, the author took license to include events which never happened, or to purposely create events which may run in the face of popular conjecture if the author felt it would help the story along."
— 2012, Chris Seepe, The Conspiracy to Assassinate Jesus Christ, page 5:
"I envy not the beast that takes
His license in the field of time,
Unfetter’d by the sense of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes; […]"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 44:
"When liberty becomes license dictatorship is near."
— 1936, Will Durant, Ariel Durant, The Story of Civilization, page 520:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
To drive a car in the US, you must have a valid ____ before hitting the road.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The software company granted us a ____ to use their product on up to ten different computers in our office.