authority
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-der.
Proto-Indo-European *h₂owg-éye-ti
Proto-Italic *augejō
Proto-Italic *augeō
Latin augeō
Proto-Indo-European *-tōr
Proto-Italic *-tōr
Latin -tor
Latin auctor
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ts
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts
Proto-Italic *-tāts
Latin -tās
Latin auctōritāsbor.
Old French autoritébor.
Middle English auctorite
English authority
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.
Inflected forms:
form: authorities
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: authourity
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: authoritie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: autority
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: auctoritie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.
Vigilantes may have the power to nab criminals, but they lack the authority.
She lost all respect and authority after turning up drunk at the meeting.
Respect my authority!
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.
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.
It was widely seen as an attempt to deflect attention from the Comey controversy and re-establish some authority at the briefing room podium.
gloss: Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.
pos: noun
tags: countable
plural
uncountable
examples: Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.
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.
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.
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.
gloss: A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: the world's foremost authority on orangutans
My cheap dictionary is not the authority on word derivations.
To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.
The Egyptian crux ansata, common on Egyptian monuments and other memorials, is considered by some authorities as a triple phallus.
gloss: Status as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or reputation.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument from authority is considered a logical fallacy.
gloss: Official permission; authorisation to act in some capacity on behalf of a ruling entity.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 'It seems to me,' remarked Mr Carrados, remembering something very similar not long before, 'that whatever anyone wants to do about Shakespeare, it is easy to find authority in his works for doing it.'
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.
gloss: A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: New York Port Authority
Chicago Transit Authority
Related words: author
authoritarian
authoritative
authorization
authorize
have something on good authority
Derived words: 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
territorial authority
unitary authority
verbal authority
Translations: