license meaning and definition

LICENSE noun

Definition of license (noun)

1. a legal document giving official permission to do something
   • synonyms: licence, permit
2. freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)
   • synonyms: 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
   • synonyms: licence
4. the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization
   • synonyms: permission, permit

LICENSE verb

Definition of license (verb)

1. authorize officially
   • "I am licensed to practice law in this state"
   • synonyms: certify, licence
   • antonym: decertify