Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
on-license

on-license

7.9
Official permission to sell alcohol for people to drink in a bar or restaurant
  • noun
  • /ɒnˈlaɪsəns/
  • Specialized
translation icon : licencia de venta
  • Restaurants must have an on-license to legally offer wine with meals.

Examples

  • He invested in a bar after obtaining the required on-license.

  • The pub applied for an on-license to serve beer to its customers.

  • The bar has an on-license to serve alcohol.

  • Do you have an on-license for this restaurant?

  • Restaurants must have an on-license to legally offer wine with meals.

  • The pub applied for an on-license to serve beer to its customers.

  • He invested in a bar after obtaining the required on-license.

Synonyms

liquor license
vson-license
  • Formal
16 3.8

Official permission to sell alcoholic drinks

is limited to selling for consumption on the premises like bars or restaurants

Surface Forms

on-license singular
on-licenses plural

Morphology

on-license = license (transparent) = on + license

The meaning is directly composed from 'on' + 'license' (a licence to sell/serve on the premises), which is immediately inferable from the components. [Postprocessing: moved 'on' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word on-license comes from the parts on- meaning 'at the place' and license meaning 'permission'. So an on-license is the permission to sell alcoholic drinks that people can drink 'on the premises'.