authority

(ə-thôr'ĭ-tē, ə-thŏr'-, ô-thôr'-, ô-thŏr'-)
n., pl., -ties.

1. 1. The power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge.
   2. One that is invested with this power, especially a government or body of government officials: land titles issued by the civil authority.
2. Power assigned to another; authorization: Deputies were given authority to make arrests.
3. A public agency or corporation with administrative powers in a specified field: a city transit authority.
4. 1. An accepted source of expert information or advice: a noted authority on birds; a reference book often cited as an authority.
   2. A quotation or citation from such a source: biblical authorities for a moral argument.
5. Justification; grounds: On what authority do you make such a claim?
6. A conclusive statement or decision that may be taken as a guide or precedent.
7. Power to influence or persuade resulting from knowledge or experience: political observers who acquire authority with age.
8. Confidence derived from experience or practice; firm self-assurance: played the sonata with authority.

[Middle English auctorite, from Old French autorite, from Latin auctōritās, auctōritāt-, from auctor, creator. See author.]

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Power to direct and exact performance from others. It includes the right to prescribe the means and methods by which work will be done. However, the authority to direct is only as good as one individual's willingness to accept direction from another. Moreover, with authority comes responsibility and accountability.

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noun

1. The right and power to command, decide, rule, or judge: command, control, domination, dominion, jurisdiction, mastery, might, power, prerogative, sovereignty, sway. Informal say-so. See over/under.
2. A person or group having the right and power to command, decide, rule, or judge: official. Idioms: powers that be, the Man. See over/under.
3. Conferred power: faculty, mandate, right. Law competence, competency. See ability/inability.
4. A person with a high degree of knowledge or skill in a particular field: ace, adept, dab hand, expert, master, past master, professional, proficient, wizard. Informal whiz. Slang crackerjack. Chiefly British dab. See ability/inability.

n

Definition: power
Antonyms: servility, servitude

The right or the capacity, or both, to have proposals or prescriptions or instructions accepted without recourse to persuasion, bargaining, or force. Systems of rules, including legal systems, typically entitle particular office-bearers to make decisions or issue instructions: such office-bearers have authority conferred on them by the rules and the practices which constitute the relevant activity. Umpires and referees, for example, have authority under the rules and practices constitutive of most sporting contests. Law enforcement officers are authorized to issue instructions, but they also receive the right to behave in ways which would not be acceptable in the absence of authorization: for example, to search persons or premises. To have authority in these ways is to be the bearer of an office and to be able to point to the relation between that office and a set of rules. In itself, this says nothing about the capacity in fact of such an office-holder to have proposals and so forth accepted without introducing persuasion, bargaining, or force. A referee, for example, may possess authority under the rules of the game, but in fact be challenged or ignored by the players. A distinction is therefore drawn between de jure authority—in which a right to behave in particular ways may be appealed to—and de facto authority—in which there is practical success. A different distinction is drawn between a person who is in authority as an office-bearer and a person who is an authority on a subject. The latter typically has special knowledge or special access to information not available to those who accept the person's status as an authority. Sometimes the two forms are found together: for example, the Speaker of the Commons possesses authority (to regulate the business of the House, under its rules of procedure), and is also an authority (on its rules of procedure). Attempts have been made to find common features between these two usages. These focus primarily on the ‘internal’ relationship between the authority-holder and the authority-subject, the process of recognition of the status involved, and on the willingness of the authority-subject to adopt the judgement of the authority-holder (instead of his or her own, or in the absence of the ability to formulate one).

— Andrew Reeve

A person, institution, or organization is said to have authority when the power it exercises is supposed legitimate, that is, authorized by some system of norms to which the speaker assents. The emergence of such norms in human society is a complex matter, with convention, habit, custom, and tradition playing different roles. Social contract theory is one kind of solution to the problem of the basis of authority; the evident utility of some rule-governed systems is another. While it is common to find scepticism about particular claims to authority, the idea that human co-ordination (and hence even communication) could exist without it is usually regarded as fanciful.

1. The established ruling body, for example, of a sport, which can legitimately exert power.

2. The power or right to control and judge the actions of others. This may be through the personal authority of a strong leader (charismatic authority); the established authority (known as traditional authority), for example, of governing bodies of individual sports which can impose and enforce their own rules and regulations; or legal authority, for example of the state.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Legal powers. Governmen- tal agencies created by statute for specific public purposes, such as a county highway authority. References to statutes, precedents, judicial decision, and legal textbooks that support the position of a party to a lawsuit made in the briefs submitted by the attorneys for the parties to the court that is to hear the case or during the trial in the oral arguments.

Primary authorities are citations to statutes, court decisions, and government regulations that, if having the force of law, must be applied by the court to dispose of the issue in dispute if they are relevant to the matter. Secondary authorities are references to treatises, textbooks, or restatements that explain and review general principles of law that buttress a party's position in a lawsuit. Such authorities have no legal effect and can be disregarded by the court.

Authorities are also cited by scholars in legal treatises, hornbooks, and restatements to establish the bases of the statements and conclusions contained in the works.

IN BRIEF: A person or agency that has the power to make decisions or can be trusted to give correct information.

Professor Jones is an authority on Australian wombats.

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sign description: The A-hand is used as an initialized sign while signing POWER.

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Quotes:

"No oppression is so heavy or lasting as that which is inflicted by the perversion and exorbitance of legal authority." - Joseph Addison

"To say that authority, whether secular or religious, supplies no ground for morality is not to deny the obvious fact that it supplies a sanction." - Sir Alfred Jules Ayer

"Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the boot-maker." - Mikhail Bakunin

"Authority without wisdom is like a heavy ax without an edge, fitter to bruise than to polish." - Anne Bradstreet

"Anyone who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but rather his memory." - Leonardo Da Vinci

"Authority is never without hate." - Euripides

See more famous quotes about Authority

For a list of words related to authority, see:

• Acts, Powers, Conditions, and Procedures - authority: power to rule vested in government by people, constitution, or revolution

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See words rhyming with "authority."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Authority.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - autoritet, myndighed

idioms:

• be an authority on    være en autoritet i
• give authority    tillægge autoritet, tillægge myndighed
• have it on good authority    have det fra pålidelig kilde, have det fra velinformeret kilde

Nederlands (Dutch)
gezag, overwicht, deskundige, kenner, toestemming, bevoegdheid, autoriteit, de overheid, (mv) gezagsorgaan, bewijskracht uit betrouwbare bron gehoord hebben wetgevende macht

Français (French)
n. - autorité, pouvoir, autorisation (formelle), mandat, autorité (en matière de), expert, source (autorisée)

idioms:

• be an authority on    faire autorité en matière de
• give authority    autoriser
• have it on good authority    savoir/tenir de bonne source que

Deutsch (German)
n. - Autorität, Befugnis, Behörde

idioms:

• be an authority on    beschlagen sein in
• give authority    Vollmacht erteilen, die Befugnis erteilen
• have it on good authority    aus zuverlässiger Quelle wissen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εξουσία, αρχή, εξουσιοδότηση, εντολή, δημόσια αρχή, κύρος, αυθεντία, πηγή, προέλευση

idioms:

• be an authority on    είμαι αυθεντία σε
• give authority    εξουσιοδοτώ
• have it on good authority    γνωρίζω από έγκυρη πηγή

Italiano (Italian)
autorità, potere, autorizzazione, influenza

idioms:

• be an authority on    essere esperto di
• education authority    ispettorato scolastico
• give authority    autorizzare
• legislative authority    potere legislativo
• supreme authority    autorità suprema

Português (Portuguese)
n. - autoridade (f), poder (m), perito (m), chefe (m), diretor (m), gerente (m), reputação (f)

idioms:

• be an authority on    ser uma autoridade em
• education authority    autoridade educacional
• give authority    dar autoridade
• have it on good authority    de boa fonte
• legislative authority    autoridade legislativa
• supreme authority    autoridade suprema

Русский (Russian)
власть, правительство, авторитет, разрешение, администрация, полномочия

idioms:

• be an authority on    быть авторитетом в какой-то области
• education authority    учебная администрация
• give authority    дать полномочия
• have it on good authority    авторитетно знать
• legislative authority    законодательная власть
• supreme authority    верховная власть

Español (Spanish)
n. - autoridad, gobierno, mando, conocedor, experto, organismo, agencia

idioms:

• be an authority on    ser un experto en, ser perito en
• give authority    autorizar, facultar, habilitar, otorgar poder
• have it on good authority    saber algo de buena fuente

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - myndighet, auktoritet, bemyndigande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
专家, 权威, 威信

idioms:

• be an authority on    ...的权威
• give authority    授予权限, 授予权力, 授予职权
• have it on good authority    有足够根据可以说...

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 專家, 權威, 威信

idioms:

• be an authority on    ...的權威
• give authority    授予權限, 授予權力, 授予職權
• have it on good authority    有足夠根據可以說...

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 권위, 당국, 근거, 관례

idioms:

• be an authority on    ~에 권위가 있다
• give authority    권한을 주다
• have it on good authority    확실한 소식통으로부터 듣다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 権威, 権力, 権能, 典拠, 権威となる文書, 官憲, 公共事業機関, 権威者, 大家, 判例, 許可

idioms:

• be an authority on    ～の権威

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سلطه, مستند, مرجع أو مصدر نص, حكومه, نفوذ مصدر معلومات موثوق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סמכות, רשות, מרות, בר-סמכא, מקור, אישור, בן-סמך, שלטונות, אוטוריטה‬

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