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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

license

/ˈlaɪsəns/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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Start with the vowel in “line.”

Both c and the final s represent unvoiced s sounds, with a light vowel before the final ns.

2 syllables · Stress on syllable 1

TRY SAYING
She renewed her license before the deadline.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

What does license mean?

noun

  1. A legal document giving official permission to do something; a permit.
  2. The legal terms under which a person is allowed to use a product, especially software.
  3. Freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behaviour or speech).
More meanings (7)

noun

  1. Excessive freedom; lack of due restraint.
  2. Ellipsis of driver's license.

verb

  1. To authorize officially.
  2. To give formal authorization to use.
  3. To acquire authorization to use, usually in exchange for compensation.
  4. To give permission or freedom to; accept.
  5. To permit (as grammatically correct).

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈlaɪsəns/

Pronunciation used in the listening tip.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

These license fees amount to more than $40 million per year and are a primary source of income for the government.
United States. Central Intelligence AgencyThe 1991 CIA World FactbookProject Gutenberg ebook #25
It was agreed that on the morrow Canler was to drive to town and bring back the license and a minister.
Edgar Rice BurroughsTarzan of the ApesProject Gutenberg ebook #78
More book examples (3)
All this appears to have aggravated party quarrels in Rome, and to have encouraged the soldiers in acts of license and rapacity.
PlutarchPlutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and RomansProject Gutenberg ebook #674
It cannot be denied that the effects of this extreme license of the press tend indirectly to the maintenance of public order.
Alexis de TocquevilleDemocracy in America — Volume 1Translated by Henry ReeveProject Gutenberg ebook #815
Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind.
Charles DickensA Tale of Two CitiesProject Gutenberg ebook #98