authorize

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English auctorisen, also autorisen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French autoriser, also auctoriser,^[2][4][5] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin auctōrizō,^[2][6][4] from Latin auctor (“originator, promoter, author”),^[5][7] the source of author, with the post-classical Latin suffix -izō, the source of -ize.^[6][3] The OED treats the word as of multiple origins, partly French and partly Latin.^[6] In Anglo-Norman auctoriser is recorded from about 1136, meaning to give authority to, to sanction, and to accept as authentic.^[8] The Medieval Latin verb meant to confirm from the 9th century and to ratify or approve, frequently in British sources, from the 12th.^[6] The spelling with the letters th follows author and dates from the late 16th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To vouch for the truth of something, or to set something up as authoritative: both before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[6] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century, with the senses "give formal approval to" and "regard (a book) as correct or trustworthy".^[2]

Semantic evolution

The early senses concerned truth and authority: to vouch for something (before 1393 to 1759), to set up a text or person as authoritative (now rare), and to make legally valid (1431 to 1785).^[6][9] The sense "give official permission for, sanction" appears before 1425 in a work of Wyclif,^[6] and the sense "give a person legal power to act" from the mid-15th century in Etymonline^[2] or 1528 in the OED, in a proclamation of Henry VIII.^[6] The last is now the main use.^[10][3] Johnson (1755) defined the verb first as "to give authority to any person".^[11] In the 19th century Authorized Version became the popular name of the 1611 English Bible.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1393 – to vouch for the truth of; to set up as authoritative (Gower).^[6]
• before 1425 – to give formal approval to, to sanction.^[6]
• 1431 – to make legally valid (obsolete by 1785).^[6]
• 1440 – to put a person in a position of authority (Capgrave).^[6]
• 1528 – to give a person formal authority to act; to empower.^[6]
• late 16th century – the modern spelling with th.^[2]
• 1811 – Authorized Version, of the 1611 English Bible.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give official permission for or formal approval to something; to sanction: The council authorized the sale of the old library.^[10][3][6]
2. To give a person or body the authority or legal power to do something; to empower: Only the treasurer is authorized to sign the cheques.^[10][6]
3. (archaic) To give grounds for; to justify.^[3][6]
4. (obsolete, 1393–1759) To vouch for the truth of; to attest.^[6][3]
5. (obsolete) To make legally valid.^[6][9]

Word family

• authorizer
• authorizable
• reauthorize
• authorization
• unauthorized

Related words

• author
• authority
• authoritative
• auction
• augment

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.