authority
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɔːˈθɒɹəti/
ipa: /ɔːˈθɒɹɪti/
ipa: /əˈθɔɹəti/
ipa: [əˈθɔɹəɾi]
ipa: /əˈθɔɹti/
ipa: [əˈθɔɹɾi]
ipa: /əˈθɑɹəti/
ipa: [əˈθɑɹəɾi]
ipa: /əˈθɑɹti/
ipa: [əˈθɑɹɾi]
ipa: /ɒːˈtɒɹɪti/
note: Indic
ipa: /əˈt̪ʰɔɾɪʈi/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈɔt̪ʰɵɾɪʈi/
rhymes: -ɒɹɪti
Forms: form: authorities
form: authourity
form: authoritie
form: autority
form: auctoritie
Etymology: From Middle English auctorite, autorite (“authority, book or quotation that settles an argument”), from Old French auctorité, from Latin stem of auctōritās (“invention, advice, opinion, influence, command”), from auctor (“master, leader, author”). For the presence of the h, compare the etymology of author.
Senses: examples: text: I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.
text: Vigilantes may have the power to nab criminals, but they lack the authority.
text: She lost all respect and authority after turning up drunk at the meeting.
text: Respect my authority!
text: SIR PETER. Very well! ma'am very well! so a husband is to have no influence, no authority?
LADY TEAZLE. Authority! no, to be sure—if you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me and not married me[:] I am sure you were old enough.
ref: 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.i:
text: 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 in authority being very wroth with him.
ref: 1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:
text: It was widely seen as an attempt to deflect attention from the Comey controversy and re-establish some authority at the briefing room podium.
ref: 2017 May 16, Dylan Byers, “Does anyone in Trump's White House have credibility?”, in CNN Business:
synonyms: command
rulership
sovereignty
glosses: Power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.
examples: text: Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.
text: The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
ref: 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
text: 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 the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.
ref: 2013 August 10, “Legal highs: A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
text: In China, authorities said they might soon shoot down an unidentified flying object over waters near the northern city of Rizhao, The South China Morning Post reported.
ref: 2023 February 12, Daniel E. Slotnik, Amelia Nierenberg, “Your Monday Briefing: U.S. Destroys U.F.O.s”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2023, Briefing:
glosses: Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.
examples: text: the world's foremost authority on orangutans
text: My cheap dictionary is not the authority on word derivations.
text: To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.
ref: 1930 September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1988) by Banesh Hoffman
text: The Egyptian crux ansata, common on Egyptian monuments and other memorials, is considered by some authorities as a triple phallus.
ref: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 82:
glosses: A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject.
examples: text: Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument from authority is considered a logical fallacy.
synonyms: word: gravitas
word: cred
glosses: Status as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or reputation.
examples: text: Authority to 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.
ref: 1964 July, “XP64: New Standard Carriage Project”, in Modern Railways, page 2:
glosses: Official permission; authorisation to act in some capacity on behalf of a ruling entity.
examples: text: New York Port Authority
text: Chicago Transit Authority
glosses: A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.
Derived terms: aileron authority
antiauthority
appeal to authority
authoritah
authority control
authority figure
authority issues
authorityless
authoritywise
certificate authority
color of authority
combined authority
elevator authority
enforcement authority
local authority
moral authority
multiauthority
port authority
postal authority
public authority
rudder authority
signature authority
statutory authority
tax authority
unitary authority
verbal authority
Related terms: author
authoritarian
authoritative
authorization
have something on good authority