licence [LME] Latin licere ‘be lawful or permitted’ is the base of licence, which came into English via Old French from Latin licentia ‘freedom, licentiousness’ which in medieval Latin came to mean ‘authority, permission’. The phrase poetic licence, meaning deviation from a recognized rule for artistic effect, is found from the early 16th century. The verb license [LME] gained its -se spelling from the pattern of noun/verb pairs such as ‘practice’ and ‘practise’.