licence

\li.sɑ̃s\

/\li.sɑ̃s\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“licence” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,205. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,205
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Permission :

Corpus desk

Index FR-licence · licence · French

licence · rank #3,205 · 10 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,205
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH indépendant

Nearest frequency peer: indépendant (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “licence”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “licence” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

licence vs license
86% similar
licence vs licences
88% similar
licence vs licencié
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for licence
PropertyValue
Headwordlicence
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\li.sɑ̃s\
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,205
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “licence” sits in French frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).licence lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around licence (IPA \li.sɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,205 among 2,567 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 15 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for licence, with forms such as "ilcence", "lcience", and "liccence". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "license", "licences", "licencié", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is licence, spelled L-I-C-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Permission :
  2. 2
    Permission :
  3. 3
    Permission :
  4. 4
    Permission :
  5. 5
    Licence sportive :
  6. 6
    Licence sportive :
  7. 7
    Licence sportive :
  8. 8
    Degré qui est entre celui de bachelier et celui de docteur dans les facultés de lettres, de sciences, de droit.
  9. 9
    Liberté que l'on s'accorde :
  10. 10
    Liberté que l'on s'accorde :
  11. 11
    Liberté que l'on s'accorde :
  12. 12
    Liberté que l'on s'accorde :
  13. 13
    Permission contractuelle :
  14. 14
    Permission contractuelle :
  15. 15
    Permission contractuelle :

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how licence appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ah ! cette ville imbécile et mortelle […]. Elle prend des aspects de nécropole où les macchabées folâtres auraient licence de grimacer et de gesticuler sous un ciel putride, gonflé comme un égout.
  2. Pour ce soir, je te donne licence de débiter tes sornettes.

Synonyms

certificat

This word in other languages

permission(English)licencia(Español)Lizenz(Deutsch)consentimento(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ilcence
  • lcience
  • liccence
  • licecne
  • licencce
  • licenec
  • licennce
  • licnece
  • liecnce
  • llicence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of licence - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ilcence2lcience2liccence1licecne2licencce1licenec2licennce1licnece2
Edit distance from "licence"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "licence"?
"licence" is spelled L-I-C-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \li.sɑ̃s\.
What does "licence" mean?
As a noun, "licence" means: Permission :
What words are commonly confused with "licence"?
"licence" is commonly confused with "license", "licences", "licencié". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "licence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "licence" is \li.sɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "licence" come from?
"licence" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "licence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

manquer#3,206Mexique#3,207honnête#3,201oreille#3,210

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

degrés10 variantsregrette10 variantscroient10 variantscomédie10 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "licence". Here's where to go from here.

  • "licence" maps to 7 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "license". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,205 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list