Licence or License or both?

[verycurious]

Can someone tell me what the difference is in spelling of Licence and License. Both spellings are on the vehicle licensing form thing. Is it that license is to allow someone to do something, whereas licence is a piece of paper, certificate etc. Or is license just a stupid american spelling.

[Buenchico]

In the UK, 'license' is the correct spelling of the verb, whereas 'licence' is a noun.

e.g. "I will approach the licensing (verb) authority to seek a licence (noun). I will ask them to license (verb) the premises, which will then be licensed (verb)".

The convention is followed with other words, such as 'practice' and 'practise'.

e.g. "I am practising (verb) the piano because I need the practice (noun)".

However, that example could end with a different spelling by changing just one word. i.e. "I am practising the piano because I need to practise (verb)".

In the USA, 'license' is used both as a verb and a noun.

Perversely, Americans use 'practice', rather than 'practise', as both a verb and a noun.

Chris

[Gef]

I am terrible at remembering how to spell licence/license and practice/practise.

However I can remember that advice is a noun and advise is a verb so I always work it out from that.

[verycurious]

Thank you for your answers, I really had no idea there was a difference. I always wondered why a practising GP was spelt differently to GP practice.