Dictionary Entry
authority
Part of SpeechnounPronunciation/ɔːˈθɒɹəti/Word FrequencyCommon (5.75)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)The power to enforce rules or give orders.
In a Sentence
“I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.”
Published Usage Examples
“On questions of fact, therefore, even the Pope could be mistaken, and it is inappropriate to appeal to any authority apart from one's senses to decide a factual question: ˜authority is useless in that context™ (Preface to the Traité du vide: I, 452).”
“The acts of the government of the Confederation in accepting cessions from several of the States of unoccupied territory, claimed by them in the west, and organizing territorial governments therein, were declared in 1788, by as high authority as James Madison, to be "_without the least color of constitutional authority”
This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 10 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.
Origin
From Latin 'auctoritas', meaning 'power, influence, authority', from 'auctor' meaning 'creator, promoter, author'.
Common Phrases
Related Words
Poetry examples for “authority”
Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.
Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.
