Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To grant authority or power to.
- v. To give permission for; sanction: the city agency that authorizes construction projects.
- v. To be sufficient grounds for; justify.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To give authority, warrant, or legal power to; empower (a person): as, to authorize commissioners to settle the boundary of a state.
- To give authority for; approve of and permit; formally sanction (an act or a proceeding).
- To make authoritative or valid; legalize; validate.
- To establish by authority or usage: as, an authorized idiom.
- To warrant; vouch for.
- To support (one's self) upon the authority (of).
- Also spelled authorise.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To grant (someone) power or authority (to do something specific).
- v. transitive To give (someone) permission; to sanction or consent.
- v. transitive To permit (something), to sanction or consent to (something).
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To clothe with authority, warrant, or legal power; to give a right to act; to empower.
- v. To make legal; to give legal sanction to; to legalize.
- v. To establish by authority, as by usage or public opinion; to sanction.
- v. To sanction or confirm by the authority of some one; to warrant.
- v. To justify; to furnish a ground for.
WordNet 3.0
- v. give or delegate power or authority to
- v. grant authorization or clearance for
Etymologies
- From Old French autoriser (Wiktionary)
- Middle English auctorisen, from Old French autoriser, from Medieval Latin auctōrizāre, from Latin auctor, author; see author. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I won't accept your premise and won't indulge you any further on this until you respond to my initial question of "would you 'authorize' - were it your decision to make - internment camps, and incarceration based solely on that profiling?”
“But a question for you: would you "authorize" - were it your decision to make - internment camps, and incarceration based solely on that profiling?”
“But because the power of exclusion of aliens is also inherent in the executive department of the sovereign, Congress may in broad terms authorize the executive to exercise the power, e.g., as was done here, for the best interests of the country during a time of national emergency.”
“DJ: "But a question for you: would you "authorize" - were it your decision to make - internment camps, and incarceration based solely on that profiling?”
“Did the Bush administration "authorize" the leak of classified information to Bob Woodward?”
Murray Waas: Did the White House "Authorize" Leaks to Woodward?
“Reply: No ... we need to hang the authorities who 'authorize' torture.”
“For example, if you go to dinner and the bill is $100 and you pay with a credit card, the restaurant might be tempted to "authorize" your card for $120 — a 20% tip.”
10 Things You Might Not Know About Your Credit Card - The Consumerist
“For example, the government could not unilaterally "authorize" the "targeting" of a particular San Francisco resident's international communications.”
“However, it could "authorize" a dragnet surveillance program that intercepted the international communications of all San Francisco residents under the pretext that it was "targeting" any foreign terrorists who might happen to communicate with San Francisco residents.”
“The reason the magazine scores so many high level interviews is that the editors agree to allow the subjects to "authorize" the interviews before they go to press.”
Bush On Maliki's Endorsement Of 16-Month Timetable: He Didn't Say What He Said
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘authorize’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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webdev
random webdev lingo used primarily in computer programming.
( open list, randomness, technical jargon, geek speak )
more:
ajax, user, admin, frontend, backend, database, sql, protocol, call, dom, layout, ui and 439 more... -
Words I have to learn
exasperate, felony, weld, fraud, worksheet, ransom, rehearse, preliminary, offshore, parole, infamous, sieve and 436 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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Panvocalics
Panvocalics are words that contain all the vowels. Listed here are "euvocalics": words that have each of the five vowels only once. (These are also a kind of supervocalic.) Words that also have a "...
subcontinental, unoriental, ultraviolet, tourmaline, sequoia, jacqueminot, milquetoast, xenosaurid, thunderation, adenovirus, accoutering, absolutive and 2777 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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MEC2 Lesson 127
trial, trainee, overqualified, hold, murder, orient, underhanded, disgusting, uncomfortable, flash, Johnny Carson, authorize and 22 more...
Tweets
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