Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. Standard spelling of license; Alternative form of...

Ancestry of “licence”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchlicenceleave; permission to be away, to be not present
2Latinlicentiaa license, freedom, liberty; a liberty which one...
3Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
4Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
5Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
6Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “licence”

  • licencee
  • sublicence
  • multilicence
  • licenceless
  • लाइसेंस
  • lesen
  • ilayisense
  • laaesan
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →