# authorise

Pronunciation: say "AW-thuh-ryz" UK /ˈɔːθəɹaɪz/, US /ˈɔθəɹaɪz/

## Verb

1. To give someone the official permission or power they need to do something, or to give formal approval for an action.
   - Simple: To officially allow someone to do something, or to officially allow something to happen.
   - _The board voted to authorise the chief executive to negotiate the sale._
   - _A senior officer must authorise any search of the property._

## Origin

English borrowed the word in the Middle Ages from Old French auctorisier, which goes back through Medieval Latin auctorizare to Latin auctor. The h in the spelling copies author, and octroy comes from the same source by a different route.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/authorise (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).