authority
Pluralauthorities
- 1People in official positions of power, considered together, especially the police and other law enforcement.
Anyone who witnesses the crime should contact the appropriate authority without delay.
The authorities launched an investigation into the missing funds.
UsageUsually the authorities; news writing often drops the: authorities said.
Similarofficials
- 2The power or right to give orders, make decisions, enforce rules, or act on behalf of another person or organization.
The committee lacks the authority to overturn a court ruling.
Parents exercise authority over their young children's daily routines.
UsageOften the authority to do something, authority over someone, and in authority: people in authority.
Similarpower, right, jurisdiction, control, command
Note
Its sharpest contrast is with power: vigilantes may have the power to catch criminals but lack the authority. Authority is the right to act, while power is merely the ability.
- 3Recognized standing as a trustworthy expert, or the reputation a person claims for mastery of a subject.
Her authority on the subject was rarely questioned by colleagues.
The professor wrote with the authority of decades of fieldwork.
UsageOften with authority: speak or write with authority.
Note
The expert is someone you consult, while this is the weight their word carries, and it cannot be counted. Logic names its misuse: the argument from authority treats a claim as true because of who makes it. As deductive proof it is a fallacy, since reputation guarantees nothing, though a genuine expert's view can still be good evidence.
- 4A reliable, definitive source of information or expertise on a particular subject.
He became a recognized authority on medieval manuscripts.
The journal is widely regarded as an authority in climate research.
UsageUsually an authority on a subject: an authority on birds.
Similarexpert, specialist
Note
Close to what the word meant in Middle English, where auctorite could be a book or cited passage that settles an argument. A person consulted the same way now fills that role. It takes on before its subject (an authority on orangutans) and counts freely (some authorities hold that…). Einstein's joke turns on the gap between this and the power to command: having scorned authority, he found Fate had made him one.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Middle English auctorite could mean a book or quotation accepted as settling an argument. en.wiktionary.org
- Einstein joked that Fate had made him an authority as punishment for his contempt for authority. assets.press.princeton.edu
- 5A public body set up by government to run a particular service or administer a particular area of public life, such as transport, housing, or water.
The port authority approved funding for a new terminal.
Several housing authorities reported budget shortfalls this year.
UsageOften in names, with a capital: the Port Authority. Otherwise lowercase: a housing authority.
Similaragency, commission, board
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of authority apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
This word comes from Middle English auctorite, meaning authority or a quotation that settles an argument, borrowed from Old French auctorité and ultimately from Latin auctōritās ("advice, opinion, influence, command"), from auctor ("master, leader, author").
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Authority descends from Middle English auctorite, borrowed from Old French auctorité and ultimately derived from Latin auctōritās. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English auctorite could mean authority or a quotation that settles an argument. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin auctōritās has senses corresponding to advice, opinion, influence and command. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin auctōritās derives from auctor, glossed as master, leader or author. en.wiktionary.org