different between license vs commission

English

Alternative forms

• (British, Canadian, Australian, Irish, South African and New Zealand English) licence (noun)

Etymology

From Old French licence, from Latin licentia (“license”), from licens, present participle of licere (“to be allowed, be allowable”); compare linquere, Ancient Greek ????? (leíp?, “leave”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la?s?ns/
• Hyphenation: li?cense

Noun

license (countable and uncountable, plural licenses)

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).
4. Excessive freedom; lack of due restraint.
5. Short for driver's license.

Usage notes

• In British English, Canadian English, Australian English, Irish English, South African English and New Zealand English the noun is spelt licence and the verb is license.
• The spelling licence is not used for either part of speech in the United States.

Derived terms

Related terms

• licensure
• licentious

Translations

Verb

license (third-person singular simple present licenses, present participle licensing, simple past and past participle licensed)

1. Authorize officially.

2. (transitive) (applied to a piece of intellectual property)
   1. To give formal authorization to use.
   2. To acquire authorization to use, usually in exchange for compensation.
3. (linguistics, transitive) To permit (as grammatically correct).

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• license in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• license in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Licence in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• selenic, silence

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French commission, from Latin commissi? (“sending together; commission”), from prefix com- (“with”), + noun of action missi? (“sending”), from perfect passive participle missus (“sent”), from the verb mitt? (“to send”), + noun of action suffix -i?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??m???n/
• Rhymes: -???n

Noun

commission (countable and uncountable, plural commissions)

1. A sending or mission (to do or accomplish something).
2. An official charge or authority to do something, often used of military officers.
3. The thing to be done as agent for another.

4. A body or group of people, officially tasked with carrying out a particular function.
   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     A commission was at once appointed to examine into the matter.

   Synonyms: committee, government body

5. A fee charged by an agent or broker for carrying out a transaction.

   Hyponyms: (to a broker) brokerage, (to a shroff) shroffage

6. The act of committing (e.g. a crime).

   • Every commission of sin introduces into the soul a certain degree of hardness.

   Antonym: omission

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

commission (third-person singular simple present commissions, present participle commissioning, simple past and past participle commissioned)

1. (transitive) To send or officially charge someone or some group to do something.
   • 2012, August 1. Owen Gibson in Guardian Unlimited, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal

     Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Afghanistan, is not the first solider to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated.

2. (transitive) To place an order for (often piece of art)

3. (transitive) To put into active service

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin commissio, commissionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?.mi.sj??/

Noun

commission f (plural commissions)

1. commission (fee charged by an agent or broker for carrying out a transaction)

Derived terms

• Commission européenne

Descendants

• ? Persian: ???????? (komisiyon)
• ? Turkish: komisyon

Further reading

• “commission” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).