Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who is granted a license by an authorized body to practice a specified profession.
  • noun A degree from certain European and Canadian universities ranking just below that of a doctor.
  • noun One holding such a degree.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To give license or permission to; encourage by license.
  • noun The condition of having a license; specifically, in continental Europe, an academical dignity which intervenes between the baccalaureate and the doctorate, and is a step toward the doctor's degree.
  • noun One who has license to practice an art or a profession.
  • noun Specifically— A friar licensed by the Pope to hear confession, grant absolution, and inflict penance in any place independently of the local clergy.
  • noun In non-episcopal churches, as the Presbyterian, a person licensed to preach and perform the ordinary services of public worship, prior to being ordained as a pastor.
  • noun One who behaves in a licentious manner; one who transcends the bounds of due restraint and decorum.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To give a license to.
  • noun One who has a license to exercise a profession.
  • noun obsolete A friar authorized to receive confessions and grant absolution in all places, independently of the local clergy.
  • noun obsolete One who acts without restraint, or takes a liberty, as if having a license therefor.
  • noun On the continent of Europe, a university degree intermediate between that of bachelor and that of doctor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who holds the academic degree of license.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun holds a license (degree) from a (European) university

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin licentiātus, from past participle of licentiāre, to allow, from licentia, authorization; see license.]

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