authority

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English

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishauctorite,autorite(“authority, book or quotation that settles an argument”),fromOld Frenchauctorité,fromLatinstem ofauctōritās(“invention, advice, opinion, influence, command”),fromauctor(“master, leader, author”).For the presence of theh,compare the etymology ofauthor.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK)IPA(key):/ɔːˈθɒɹəti/,/ɔːˈθɒɹɪti/
  • (US)IPA(key):/əˈθɔɹəti/,/əˈθɑɹəti/
  • Audio(US):(file)
  • (obsolete)IPA(key):/ɒːˈtɒɹɪti/
  • Hyphenation:au‧thor‧i‧ty
  • Rhymes:-ɒɹɪti

Noun

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authority(countableanduncountable,pluralauthorities)

  1. (uncountable)Poweror right to make orenforcerules or give orders; or apositionhaving such power or right.
    Synonyms:command,rulership,sovereignty
    I have theauthorityto penalise the staff in my department, but not theauthorityto sack them.
    Vigilantes may have the power to nab criminals, but they lack theauthority.
    She lost all respect andauthorityafter turning up drunk at the meeting.
    Respect myauthority!
    • 1777,Richard Brinsley Sheridan,The School for Scandal,II.i:
      SIR PETER. Very well! ma'am very well! so a husband is to have no influence, noauthority?
      LADY TEAZLE.Authority!no, to be sure—if you wantedauthorityover me, you should have adopted me and not married me[:] I am sure you were old enough.
    • 1883,Howard Pyle, chapter V, inThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood[…],New York, N.Y.:[…]Charles Scribner’s Sons[…],→OCLC:
      But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those inauthoritybeing very wroth with him.
  2. (plural)Persons, regardedcollectively,who occupy official positions of power;policeorlaw enforcement.
    Authoritiessay the suspect fled on foot.
    • 1927,F. E. Penny,chapter 4, inPulling the Strings:
      The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling theauthorities.A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
    • 2013August 10, “Legal highs: A new prescription”,inThe Economist,volume408,number8848:
      No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes theauthoritiesto identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.
    • 2023February 12, Daniel E. Slotnik, Amelia Nierenberg, “Your Monday Briefing: U.S. Destroys U.F.O.s”, inThe New York Times‎[1],→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon13 February 2023,Briefing:
      In China,authoritiessaid they might soon shoot down an unidentified flying object over waters near the northern city of Rizhao, The South China Morning Post reported.
  3. (countable)Areliable,definitivesource of information on a subject.
    the world's foremostauthorityon orangutans
    My cheap dictionary is not theauthorityon word derivations.
    • 1930September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted inAlbert Einstein: Creator and Rebel(1988) by Banesh Hoffman:
      To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me anauthoritymyself.
  4. (uncountable)Statusas a trustworthy source of information, reputation formasteryorexpertise;or claim to such status or reputation.
    Synonyms:cred,gravitas
    Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument fromauthorityis considered a logical fallacy.
  5. (uncountable)Officialpermission;authorisationto act in somecapacityon behalf of a ruling entity.
    • 1964July, “XP64: New Standard Carriage Project”, inModern Railways,page 2:
      Authorityto construct eight carriages, to test the new design in public service, had already been given; but of course complete working drawings had first to be prepared.
  6. (countable)A government-ownedagencythat runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.
    New York PortAuthority
    Chicago TransitAuthority

Derived terms

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Translations

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Translations to be checked

See also

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References

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