license in WordNet English dictionary

1. authorize officially
   "I am licensed to practice law in this state"
   license  licence  certify 
   

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