AUTHORITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does authority mean? 

• AUTHORITY (noun)
  The noun AUTHORITY has 7 senses:

1. the power or right to give orders or make decisions

2. (usually plural) persons who exercise (administrative) control over others

3. an expert whose views are taken as definitive

4. freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities

5. an administrative unit of government

6. official permission or approval

7. an authoritative written work

  Familiarity information: AUTHORITY used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AUTHORITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The power or right to give orders or make decisions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

authorisation; authority; authorization; dominance; potency; say-so

Context example:

a place of potency in the state

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

control (power to direct or determine)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "authority"):

carte blanche (complete freedom or authority to act)

power of appointment (authority given (in a will or deed) by a donor to a donee to appoint the beneficiaries of the donor's property)

sovereignty (the authority of a state to govern another state)

muscle (authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way))

imperium (supreme authority; absolute dominion)

command (the power or authority to command)

lordship (the authority of a lord)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(usually plural) persons who exercise (administrative) control over others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the authorities have issued a curfew

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "authority"):

withdrawer (an authority who withdraws permission)

rebuker; reproacher; reprover; upbraider (someone who finds fault or imputes blame)

civil authority; civil officer (a person who exercises authority over civilian affairs)

pacha; pasha (a civil or military authority in Turkey or Egypt)

mandator (an authority who issues a mandate)

authoriser; authorizer (an authority who authorizes (people or actions))

authority figure (someone who is regarded as an authority by someone else)

approver (an authority with power to approve)

allocator; distributor (a person with authority to allot or deal out or apportion)

abrogator (an authority or official empowered to abolish or annul or repeal)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An expert whose views are taken as definitive

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he is an authority on corporate law

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

expert (a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "authority"):

adviser; advisor; consultant (an expert who gives advice)

cognoscente; connoisseur (an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine arts)

evaluator; judge (an authority who is able to estimate worth or quality)

high priest (a preeminent authority or major proponent of a movement or doctrine)

liturgist (an authority on liturgies)

master; professional (an authority qualified to teach apprentices)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

assurance; authority; confidence; self-assurance; self-confidence; sureness

Context example:

she spoke with authority

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

certainty (the state of being certain)

Attribute:

certain; sure (having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured)

incertain; uncertain; unsure (lacking or indicating lack of confidence or assurance)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An administrative unit of government

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

agency; authority; bureau; federal agency; government agency; office

Context example:

Tennessee Valley Authority

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

administrative body; administrative unit (a unit with administrative responsibilities)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "authority"):

Advanced Research and Development Activity; ARDA (an agency of the Intelligence Community that conducts advanced research and development related to information technology)

independent agency (an agency of the United States government that is created by an act of Congress and is independent of the executive departments)

AFISR; Air Force Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Air Force ISR (an agency focused on ensuring that the United States military attains information superiority; operates worldwide ground sites and an array of airborne reconnaissance and surveillance platforms)

Air Force; U. S. Air Force; United States Air Force; US Air Force; USAF (the airforce of the United States of America; the agency that defends the United States through control and exploitation of air and space)

Marine Corps Intelligence Activity; MCIA (an agency of the United States Marine Corps that provides responsive and broad intelligence support for the worldwide Marine Corps organization)

Office of Naval Intelligence; ONI (the military intelligence agency that provides for the intelligence and counterintelligence and investigative and security requirements of the United States Navy)

Naval Underwater Warfare Center; NUWC (the agency that provides scientific and engineering and technical support for submarine and undersea warfare systems)

Naval Surface Warfare Center; NSWC (the agency that provides scientific and engineering and technical support for all aspects of surface warfare)

Naval Special Warfare; NSW (the agency that provides units to conduct unconventional and counter-guerilla warfare)

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division; NAWCWPNS (the principal agency of the United States Navy for research and development for air warfare and missile weapon systems)

U. S. Coast Guard; United States Coast Guard; US Coast Guard (an agency of the Department of Transportation responsible for patrolling shores and facilitating nautical commerce)

Navy; United States Navy; US Navy; USN (the navy of the United States of America; the agency that maintains and trains and equips combat-ready naval forces)

Bureau of Engraving and Printing (the agency of the Treasury Department that produces currency)

Transportation Security Administration; TSA (an agency established in 2001 to safeguard United States transportation systems and insure safe air travel)

FAA; Federal Aviation Administration (an agency in the Department of Transportation that is responsible for the safety of civilian aviation)

Internal Revenue Service; IRS (the bureau of the Treasury Department responsible for tax collections)

GAO; Government Accounting Office; United States Government Accounting Office (an independent nonpartisan federal agency that acts as the investigative arm of Congress making the executive branch accountable to Congress and the government accountable to citizens of the United States)

National Guard Bureau; NGB (the agency that administers the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard; provides liaison between the Army and the Air Force and various National Guard units)

local authority (an administrative unit of local government)

Federal Housing Administration; FHA (the federal agency in the Department of Housing and Urban Development that insures residential mortgages)

Casualty Care Research Center; CCRC (an agency in the Department of Defense that is a national center for research on all aspects of injury control and casualty care)

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; NGA (a combat support agency that provides geographic intelligence in support of national security)

Defense Information Systems Agency; DISA (a combat support agency in the Department of Defense responsible for developing and operating and supporting information systems to serve the needs of the President and the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Ballistic Missile Defense Organization; BMDO (an agency in the Department of Defense that is responsible for making ballistic missile defense a reality)

AI; Army Intelligence (an agency of the United States Army responsible for providing timely and relevant and accurate and synchronized intelligence to tactical and operational and strategic level commanders)

Army; U. S. Army; United States Army; US Army; USA (the army of the United States of America; the agency that organizes and trains soldiers for land warfare)

Defense Logistics Agency (a logistics combat support agency in the Department of Defense; provides worldwide support for military missions)

Government Printing Office; GPO; United States Government Printing Office; US Government Printing Office (an agency of the legislative branch that provides printing and binding services for Congress and the departments and establishments of the federal government)

Patent and Trademark Office Database; Patent Office (the government bureau in the Department of Commerce that keeps a record of patents and trademarks and grants new ones)

organ (a government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function)

Occupational Safety and Health Administration; OSHA (a government agency in the Department of Labor to maintain a safe and healthy work environment)

law enforcement agency (an agency responsible for insuring obedience to the laws)

Defense Technical Information Center; DTIC (the agency in the Department of Defense that provides scientific and technical information to federal agencies and their contractors)

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service; DRMS (the organization in the Defense Logistics Agency that inventories and evaluates and sells reusable United States government surplus)

Comptroller of the Currency (the agency of the Treasury Department responsible for controlling the currency)

executive agency (an agency of the executive branch of government)

FDA; Food and Drug Administration (a federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products)

CDC; Center for Disease Control and Prevention (a federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services; located in Atlanta; investigates and diagnoses and tries to control or prevent diseases (especially new and unusual diseases))

Counterterrorist Center; CTC (an agency that helps the Director of Central Intelligence coordinate counterterrorist efforts in order to preempt and disrupt and defeat terrorist activities at the earliest possible stage)

Nonproliferation Center; NPC (an agency that serves as the focal point for all Intelligence Community activities related to nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their missile delivery systems)

Bureau of the Census; Census Bureau (the bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; NOAA (an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and other natural disasters related to weather)

National Climatic Data Center; NCDC (the part of NOAA that maintains the world's largest active archive of weather data)

National Weather Service (the federal agency in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that is responsible for weather forecast and preparation of weather maps)

Technology Administration (an agency in the Department of Commerce that works with United States industries to promote competitiveness and maximize the impact of technology on economic growth)

National Institute of Standards and Technology; NIST (an agency in the Technology Administration that makes measurements and sets standards as needed by industry or government programs)

National Technical Information Service; NTIS (an agency in the Technology Administration that is a primary resource for government-funded scientific and technical and engineering and business related information)

DARPA; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (the central research and development organization for the United States Department of Defense; responsible for developing new surveillance technologies since 9/11)

Department of Defense Laboratory System; LABLINK (a defense laboratory that provides essential services in fundamental science for national security and environmental protection and provides technologies that contribute to industrial competitiveness)

Foreign Service (the part of the State Department that supplies diplomats for the United States embassies and consulates around the world)

Department of Energy Intelligence; DOEI (an agency that collects political and economic and technical information about energy matters and makes the Department of Energy's technical and analytical expertise available to other members of the Intelligence Community)

Bureau of Customs; Customs Bureau; Customs Service; USCB (the agency of the Treasury Department that enforces import tariffs)

Office of Intelligence Support; OIS (agency that oversees the intelligence relationships of the Treasury's offices and bureaus and provides a link between the Intelligence Community and officials responsible for international economic policy)

Financial Management Service (the federal agency in the Treasury Department that manages the government's disbursement and collection systems and provides central accounting and financial reporting)

National Park Service (an agency of the Interior Department responsible for the national parks)

FWS; United States Fish and Wildlife Service; US Fish and Wildlife Service (an agency in the Department of the Interior that conserves and protects fish and wildlife and their habitats; assesses the environmental impact of pesticides and nuclear power site and hydroelectric dams and thermal pollution)

Bureau of Intelligence and Research; INR (an agency that is the primary source in the State Department for interpretive analyses of global developments and focal point for policy issues and activities of the Intelligence Community)

Bureau of Diplomatic Security; DS (the bureau in the State Department that is responsible for the security of diplomats and embassies overseas)

United States Border Patrol; US Border Patrol (the mobile law enforcement arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service that detects and prevents illegal entry of aliens into the United States)

Immigration and Naturalization Service; INS (an agency in the Department of Justice that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to the United States)

BJS; Bureau of Justice Statistics (the agency in the Department of Justice that is the primary source of criminal justice statistics for federal and local policy makers)

BJA; Bureau of Justice Assistance (the bureau in the Department of Justice that assists local criminal justice systems to reduce or prevent crime and violence and drug abuse)

National Institutes of Health; NIH (an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services whose mission is to employ science in the pursuit of knowledge to improve human health; is the principal biomedical research agency of the federal government)

PHS; United States Public Health Service (an agency that serves as the office of Surgeon General; includes agencies whose mission is to improve the public health)

Instance hyponyms:

AHPCRC; Army High Performance Computing Research Center (a United States defense laboratory to conduct research in high-performance computing for defense technology applications; a partnership of government and university and industry)

AFRL; Air Force Research Laboratory (a United States Air Force defense laboratory responsible for discovering and developing and integrating fighting technologies for aerospace forces)

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory; United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory; US Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory; USACIL (a defense laboratory of the Criminal Investigation Command; the United States Army's primary forensic laboratory in support of criminal intelligence)

Naval Research Laboratory; NRL (the United States Navy's defense laboratory that conducts basic and applied research for the Navy in a variety of scientific and technical disciplines)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Official permission or approval

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

authorisation; authority; authorization; sanction

Context example:

authority for the program was renewed several times

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

permission (approval to do something)

Sense 7

Meaning:

An authoritative written work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

this book is the final authority on the life of Milton

Hypernyms ("authority" is a kind of...):

book (a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "authority"):

last word (an authoritative statement)

 Context examples 

“Mr. Van Weyden speaks with the voice of authority,” Wolf Larsen laughed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Do you, friend Jonathan, go to the agent of the ship and get from him letters to the agent in Galatz, with authority to make search the ship just as it was here.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He neighed to them several times in a style of authority, and received answers.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He has been for some years a victim to cataleptic attacks, on which, as is well known, Dr. Trevelyan is an authority.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The old awe departed, and they grew equal to challenging his authority.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

There was a club in the prison, in which Mr. Micawber, as a gentleman, was a great authority.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"He'd kill them on sight. If he didn't bankrupt me with damage suits, the authorities would take him away from me and electrocute him."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The Sun in your sign will strengthen your sense of purpose and authority, making it easier for you to rally the troops and increase productivity.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

An organization with monitoring, regulatory, or supervisory authority over biomedical research at the local, regional, national, or international level.

(Oversight Authority, NCI Thesaurus)