licence, license

   For certain words that can function as both noun and verb, it was once common to distinguish the two forms by varying the penultimate letter, using a c in the noun form and an s in the verb. In America the practice is still preserved in a few pairings, such as advice/advise, device/devise, and prophecy/prophesy. In most other cases, however, we have abandoned the custom. This is a somewhat roundabout way of explaining why the British distinguish between licence as a noun ("a licence to sell wines and spirits") and license as a verb ("licensed premises"), while we in the United States opt for license for all forms. A similar Anglo-American split governs our spellings of practice and practise (which see).