AUTHORIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does authorize mean? 

• AUTHORIZE (verb)
  The verb AUTHORIZE has 2 senses:

1. grant authorization or clearance for

2. give or delegate power or authority to

  Familiarity information: AUTHORIZE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AUTHORIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they authorize    ... he / she / it authorizes   
Past simple: authorized   
Past participle: authorized   
-ing form: authorizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Grant authorization or clearance for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

authorise; authorize; clear; pass

Context example:

The rock star never authorized this slanderous biography

Hypernyms (to "authorize" is one way to...):

allow; countenance; let; permit (consent to, give permission)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "authorize"):

approbate (approve or sanction officially)

certificate (authorize by certificate)

approve; O.K.; okay; sanction (give sanction to)

declare (authorize payments of)

certify; licence; license (authorize officially)

commission (charge with a task)

formalise; formalize; validate (declare or make legally valid)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

authorization (official permission or approval)

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give or delegate power or authority to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

authorise; authorize; empower

Context example:

She authorized her assistant to sign the papers

Hypernyms (to "authorize" is one way to...):

appoint; charge (assign a duty, responsibility or obligation to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "authorize"):

entitle (give the right to)

sanction (give authority or permission to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

authorization (the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant)

 Context examples 

Miss Bennet was therefore established as a sweet girl, and their brother felt authorized by such commendation to think of her as he chose.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

If a drug meets these criteria CTEP may initiate a formal application to the FDA to authorize Group C distribution for a specific indication.

(Group C/Treatment IND Protocol, NCI Thesaurus)

A person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to administer healthcare in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession.

(Health Care Provider, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The representative of a labeler company who is the authorized channel for communication between the company and the FDA.

(Labeler Regulatory Contact for FDA, NCI Thesaurus)

It was the National Cancer Act of 1971 that strengthened the program by authorizing the establishment of 15 new cancer centers and the continued support for existing ones.

(National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers Program, NCI Thesaurus)

Routine: administrative changes, e.g., change of address, authorized official, or meeting requests.

(Correspondence, Food and Drug Administration)

Registered nurses who have not achieved CCRN certification status or whose CCRN status has lapsed are not authorized to use the CCRN credential.

(Certification in Critical Care Nursing, NCI Thesaurus)

Specifies whether a person has authorized the use and disclosure of their private and/or confidential information.

(Confidentiality Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

The completed action in which an authorized party at a designated study site dispenses or receives a study agent to/from a study subject.

(Performed Study Agent Transfer, NCI Thesaurus)

Thank you; for now we shall soon be acquainted, as I am authorized to tease you on this subject whenever we meet, and nothing in the world advances intimacy so much.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)