authorize
Pronunciation
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
- To give official permission for or formal approval to something; to sanction: The council authorized the sale of the old library.[10][3][6]
- 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]
- (archaic) To give grounds for; to justify.[3][6]
- (obsolete, 1393–1759) To vouch for the truth of; to attest.[6][3]
- (obsolete) To make legally valid.[6][9]
Word family
- authorizer
- authorizable
- reauthorize
- authorization
- unauthorized
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.