autoriser

Forms

autoriser^[1] Old French actorizer (late 12th century) and autorizer (13th century).^[2][3] The spelling was often auct- until the 16th century, and auth- in the 15th and especially the 16th century.^[4] Anglo-Norman forms include auctorisier, auctorizer and autorisier.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin auctōrizō (“to confirm, authorize”), from Latin auctor (“guarantor, author”), taken in its legal sense of “guarantor”.^[3][2][4][6] It was first borrowed in the Latinizing form actorizer (late 12th century) and is recorded as autorizer in the 13th century.^[3][2] Classical Latin had the verb auctōrō instead.^[3] Wiktionary treats the word as inherited through Old French auctorisier and calls it a doublet of octroyer.^[1]

Cognate with Spanish autorizar and Italian autorizzare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to the late 12th century, the GLLF from the Geste des Loherains.^[2][8] In Old French it meant at once “to approve officially”, “to give authority to (something)” and, from the 13th century, “to certify, prove”.^[3] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has Anglo-Norman examples from about 1136–1137, meaning “to give authority to, sanction”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The modern main sense “to permit” appeared in Middle French (1439), first of things (autoriser quelque chose), then of persons (autoriser quelqu'un à), which gave the reflexive s'autoriser à.^[3] The classical reflexive s'autoriser de “to use as a pretext” is still understood.^[3] In classical French the verb also meant “to invest with authority” and “to lend credit to (something)”, senses now archaic or literary.^[8][9]

The past participle autorisé (13th century) first meant “enjoying great authority”, still in the 17th century, then “worthy of belief” (un avis autorisé); today it mostly means “permitted” or, of people, “having authority”.^[3] The noun autorisation (1419), a legal and everyday term, also names the document that grants permission.^[3][4]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – First recorded, as actorizer.^[2][3]
• 13th century – Autorizer appears, with the sense “to certify, prove”.^[2][3]
• 1419 – The derivative auctorization (later autorisation) is recorded.^[3][4]
• 1439 – First use in the sense “to permit”.^[3]
• 1593 – The spelling authorisation is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (archaic) To invest someone with authority.^[9][8]
2. (literary) To lend credit or authority to something, to justify it.^[9][8]
3. Autoriser quelqu'un à: to give someone permission or the right to do something: Le directeur l'a autorisée à partir plus tôt.^[9][8][7]
4. (law) To empower a legally incapable person to perform an act.^[9]
5. To make something lawful or possible, to allow it.^[8][7]
6. S'autoriser de: to invoke something as a pretext or justification.^[3]

Related words

• autorisation
• autorité
• auteur
• octroyer
• Latin auctor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 821b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert