Meaning

noun a legal document giving official permission to do something

noun freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech)

noun excessive freedom; lack of due restraint; - Will Durant; - Edmund Burke

originFrom Middle English licence, licens, lisence, lissens, licance, from Old French licence, from Latin licentia (“license”), from licens, present participle of licere (“to be allowed, be allowable”); compare linquere, Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0