authority

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɔːˈθɒr.ə.ti/, US /əˈθɔːr.ə.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English autorite, auctorite,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French autorité (“authority, prestige, right, permission; the Scriptures”), also auctorité,^[3][2] from Latin auctōritās (“invention, advice, influence, command”),^[3][2] from auctor (“master, leader, author”),^[3][2] the source of author.^[3][2] It was usually spelled with -c- before the 16th century; the -c- was dropped in imitation of French, and the -th- was probably added under the influence of authentic.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An authoritative passage or book that settles an argument, especially a passage of Scripture: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] about 1200 in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Legal validity, authoritative doctrine and an author whose statements are taken as correct are from about 1300.^[3] The power to inspire belief, the weight of testimony, is in the OED from 1303.^[4] The right to rule or command, the power to enforce obedience, is from the mid-14th century in Etymonline^[3] and 1393 in the OED.^[4] Middle English also used it of power coming from a good reputation.^[3] Official sanction is from about 1400.^[3] Those in authority are authority from the 1610s,^[3] and the authorities are those in charge.^[3] The spelling authority is first in Sir Thomas More, before 1535.^[2] Authorize is from about 1383, in Wycliffe,^[2] and authoritative from 1605.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1200 – an authoritative text.^[2]
• c. 1300 – legal validity.^[3]
• c. 1383 – authorize.^[2]
• 1393 – the right to command.^[4]
• c. 1400 – official sanction.^[3]
• before 1535 – the spelling authority.^[2]
• 1605 – authoritative.^[2]
• 1610s – those in authority.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The power or right to give orders, enforce laws or make decisions.
2. A person or body with this power, especially a government or its officials: the authorities.
3. Power given to another; permission.
4. A public body with administrative powers in a particular field: the local authority.
5. An accepted source of expert information; an expert.
6. Confidence and self-assurance from experience or knowledge.

Word family

• antiauthority
• authority control
• authority figure
• port authority

Related words

• author
• authorization
• authoritarian
• authoritative
• authorize
• auction
• augment

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press