Definition of "license" []

• Official or legal permission to do or own a specified thing. See Synonyms at permission. (noun)
• A document, plate, or tag that is issued as proof of official or legal permission: a driver's license. (noun)
• Deviation from normal rules, practices, or methods in order to achieve a certain end or effect. (noun)
• Latitude of action, especially in behavior or speech. See Synonyms at freedom. (noun)
• Lack of due restraint; excessive freedom: "When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near” ( Will Durant). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This license is the highest level granted by the society, and while no hierarchy should be inferred (all referees are equal regardless of classification), this is (to my knowledge) only the fifth, sixth or seventh individual to meet the criteria for the license*."
• "This was the first time that I have read the term "license raj," but anyone familiar with the India of the 1950's through the 1980's, knows how misguided socialism held them back for decades."
• "In this regard, the simplicity of the Public Domain "license" is very tempting."