Where does “licence” come from?
Licence comes from Old French licence, from Latin licentia, derived from the present participle licens of licet, meaning "it is permitted," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leyk-.
licence (English): Standard spelling of license; Alternative form of...
Definitions
- Standard spelling of license; Alternative form of...
Ancestry of “licence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | licence | leave; permission to be away, to be not present |
| 2 | Latin | licentia | a license, freedom, liberty; a liberty which one... |
| 3 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 4 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |