autorità

Forms

autorità f (invariable)^[1] Old Italian had autoritade and autoritate, and Tuscan forms with an inserted /l/ such as altorità and aultorità.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin auctōritās (“legitimacy; prestige”), a learned word.^[5][6][7][8] The Latin noun is formed from auctor (“author; guarantor; seller”) with the suffix -tās.^[5][1][9]

The same learned word is Old French auctorité (about 1121), Spanish autoridad (first half of the 13th century) and Portuguese autoridade.^[3] The LEI explains the old Tuscan forms with ⟨l⟩ as hypercorrections: speakers who pronounced /al/ before a consonant as /au/ restored an /l/ that the word never had.^[3] DEI adds that the term had a large place in medieval philosophy, from Augustine to Aquinas.^[8]

The plural sense “public officials” is a loan translation of French autorités (late 18th century); the adjective autoritario is French autoritaire (1865).^[5][3] The sense “regulatory agency” is modelled on English authority.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Guido Faba's Parlamenti, Bolognese letter models of about 1243, in the sense of legitimate power to command.^[2] About 1274 the Fiori di filosafi use autoritade both for an authoritative testimony and for the prestige that commands respect.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word covered power and jurisdiction, the personal prestige that wins obedience, and the example of the classical writers whose sayings were quoted as models.^[2] Dante defines it in the Convivio as the act of an author, something worthy of faith and obedience.^[4] DEI dates the sense “a person invested with power” to the 15th century.^[8]

The modern sense “public officials, the authorities” came from French in the revolutionary years: autorità costituita is recorded in 1797 and the plural in a Milanese paper in 1800.^[5] Purists of the 1830s and 1840s blamed it, though Ugolini (1848) admitted that the language of offices could hardly do without it.^[5] In the 20th century autorità also became the name of independent public agencies, after English authority.^[10][11] A person may now be called un'autorità in a field, an expert whose word carries weight.^[7][12]

Timeline

• c. 1243 – Guido Faba uses the word for the power to command.^[2]
• c. 1274 – The Fiori di filosafi use autoritade for an authoritative testimony.^[3]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it for the power of an office holder.^[5]
• 1797 – Autorità costituita “established authority” is recorded.^[5]
• 1800 – The plural for public officials appears in the Milanese press.^[5]
• 1873 – Autoritario “authoritarian” is first recorded, after French.^[5]
• 1884 – Autoritarismo is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The legitimate power to exercise a function, give orders and make binding decisions: Il sindaco non ha l'autorità per chiudere la scuola.^[7][10][11]
2. The body or office that holds such power: l'autorità giudiziaria, l'autorità competente.^[7][10][12]
3. (chiefly plural) The people who hold public office, the authorities: Alla cerimonia c'erano tutte le autorità della provincia.^[7][10][11]
4. (law) An independent agency that supervises a public service: un'autorità indipendente.^[10][11]
5. Personal influence and prestige: Con gli anni il nonno ha perso un po' della sua autorità in famiglia.^[7][12][13]
6. A person regarded as an expert in a field: È un'autorità in fatto di vini.^[7][12][11]
7. An authoritative testimony or source, and the writers cited as such: citare l'autorità degli antichi.^[7][13][14]

Word family

• autoritario
• autoritarismo
• antiautorità
• autoritativo

Related words

• autorevole
• autorizzare
• autore
• Latin auctoritas
• French autorité

Usage notes

D'autorità means “by order of the authorities”, or “high-handedly, without discussion”.^[13][14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 2244
4. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 373
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli