Sentence:  Methods have been developed of assigning `` weights '' to statements ; that is , it is <WSD>known</WSD> empirically that names beginning with R are more common than those beginning with Z ; that fewer women are named Miranda than Elizabeth ; that in the United States more people die of heart disease than of smallpox . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority