Meaning

6 senses
  1. (uncountable)Power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.

    I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.

    Vigilantes may have the power to nab criminals, but they lack the authority.

    Autorität

    властьvlastʹ

    вла́даvláda

    the power or right to give orders or make decisions

  2. (countable, plural, uncountable)Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.

    Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.

    Autorität, Behörde

    властьvlastʹ, вла́стиvlásti

    вла́даvláda

  3. (countable)A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject.

    the world's foremost authority on orangutans

    My cheap dictionary is not the authority on word derivations.

    Autorität

    авторите́тavtoritét

    авторите́тavtorytét

  4. (uncountable)Status as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or reputation.

    Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument from authority is considered a logical fallacy.

  5. (uncountable)Official permission; authorisation to act in some capacity on behalf of a ruling entity.

    official permission or approval

  6. (countable)A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.

    New York Port Authority

    Chicago Transit Authority

    Behörde

    администра́цияadministrácija, управле́ниеupravlénije

    адміністра́ціяadministrácija, управлі́нняupravlínnja, керівни́цтвоkerivnýctvo

Examples

502 sentences
  1. You've got no authority to do that.

    У тебе немає повноважень, щоб це робити.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. You have no authority to do that.

    У тебе немає повноважень, щоб це зробити.

    ruУ тебя нет на это полномочий.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. Tom abuses his authority, so no one likes him.

    Том зловживає владою, тому його ніхто не любить.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. He abuses his authority.

    Він зловживає своїм авторитетом.

    ruОн злоупотребляет своим авторитетом.

    deEr missbraucht seine Autorität.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. You've exceeded your authority.

    Ви перевищили свої повноваження.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 3
power to enforce rules or give orders:
reliable source of information on a subject:
government agency that runs a revenue-generating activity:
Русский
By meaning 4
power to enforce rules or give orders:
police or law enforcement collectively:
reliable source of information on a subject:
government agency that runs a revenue-generating activity:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
power to enforce rules or give orders:
police or law enforcement collectively:

Origin

From Middle English auctorite, autorite (“authority, book or quotation that settles an arg

From Middle English auctorite, autorite (“authority, book or quotation that settles an argument”), from Old French auctorité, from Latin stem of auctōritās (“invention, advice, opinion, influence, command”), from auctor (“master, leader, author”). For the presence of the h, compare the etymology of author.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: authorities

Synonyms

33 synonyms

Antonyms

2 antonyms

Word family

31 related words

Collocations

11 patterns
  • abusing his authority
  • overstepped his authority
  • have the authority
  • an authority on
  • an an authority
  • authority to do
  • the authority to
  • have no authority
  • no authority to
  • no authority
  • to the authorities

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
authority — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto