sublicense

S1U1B3L1I1C3E1N1S1E1

noun

A license granted by a licensee to a third party, under the authority of the license originally granted by a licensor to the licensee.

“Joe received a license from McDonald's to develop twenty McDonald's restaurants in Dearborn, which included permission to grant a sublicense to the individual restaurant managers.”

OriginEnglish license ← Latin sub- →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

nounsublicense (plural sublicenses)

plural sublicenses · alternative sublicence

  1. lawA license granted by a licensee to a third party, under the authority of the license originally granted by a licensor to the licensee.

    Joe received a license from McDonald's to develop twenty McDonald's restaurants in Dearborn, which included permission to grant a sublicense to the individual restaurant managers.

verbsublicense (third-person singular simple present sublicenses, present participle sublicensing, simple past and past participle sublicensed)

present singular third person sublicenses · participle present sublicensing · participle past sublicensed · past sublicensed · alternative sublicence

  1. lawto grant a sublicense

Origin

  1. Latinsub
  2. Latinsub-
  3. Englishsub-
  4. Englishlicense
  5. Englishsublicense

From sub- + license.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish alilisenssi, alilisensoida
  • alilisenssilicense granted by a licensee to a third party, under the authority of the license originally granted by a licensor to the licensee
  • alilisensoidato grant a sublicense
  • myöntää alilisenssito grant a sublicense
French sous-licencier
  • sous-licencierto grant a sublicense
German Unterlizenz, unterlizenzieren
  • Unterlizenzlicense granted by a licensee to a third party, under the authority of the license originally granted by a licensor to the licensee
  • unterlizenzierento grant a sublicense
Italian sublicenziare
  • sublicenziareto grant a sublicense
Russian сублицензия
  • сублицензия (sublicenzija)license granted by a licensee to a third party, under the authority of the license originally granted by a licensor to the licensee
Turkish alt lisans
  • alt lisanslicense granted by a licensee to a third party, under the authority of the license originally granted by a licensor to the licensee
Cite this entry
APA

sublicense. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sublicense

MLA

“sublicense.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sublicense. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sublicense,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sublicense.

Source: sublicense on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.