1. (

• license ,
• licence ,
• permit ,

) a legal document giving official permission to do something ;

2. (

• license ,
• licence ,

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

3. (

• license ,
• licence ,

) 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 ;

4. (

• license ,
• permission ,
• permit

) the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization ;

1. (

• license ,
• licence ,
• certify ,

) authorize officially; "I am licensed to practice law in this state" ;