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Authorities   /əθˈɔrətiz/   Listen
noun
authorities  n.  
1.
The organization that is the governing authority of a political unit.
Synonyms: government, regime.



Authority  n.  (pl. authorities)  
1.
Legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; power exercised buy a person in virtue of his office or trust; dominion; jurisdiction; authorization; as, the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children; the authority of a court. "Thus can the demigod, Authority, Make us pay down for our offense." "By what authority doest thou these things?"
2.
Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command; as, the local authorities of the States; the military authorities. (Chiefly in the plural.)
3.
The power derived from opinion, respect, or esteem; influence of character, office, or station, or mental or moral superiority, and the like; claim to be believed or obeyed; as, an historian of no authority; a magistrate of great authority.
4.
That which, or one who, is claimed or appealed to in support of opinions, actions, measures, etc. Hence:
(a)
Testimony; witness. "And on that high authority had believed."
(b)
A precedent; a decision of a court, an official declaration, or an opinion, saying, or statement worthy to be taken as a precedent.
(c)
A book containing such a statement or opinion, or the author of the book.
(d)
Justification; warrant. "Wilt thou be glass wherein it shall discern Authority for sin, warrant for blame."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Authorities" Quotes from Famous Books



... see the world for himself, his pleasures will far exceed those of the ordinary tourist. Wherever he may go, he will need no guide-book to instruct him, in history at least. And he will visit out-of-the-way spots unnoticed by these authorities, but dear to him by reason of their mention in the pages of his fireside Mentors, their association with some thrilling though unimportant event of which he has read. Harbours, villages, buildings, will be familiar ...
— The Book-Hunter at Home • P. B. M. Allan

... was still a mere child she committed the heinous crime of singing the Marseillaise. The watchful Prussian authorities learned of this and a couple of Prussian soldiers came after her, for she must answer to the Kaiser for ...
— Tom Slade with the Boys Over There • Percy K. Fitzhugh

... stammer a few words of the local language. Everywhere the people shouted of the power, the size, the riches, and the growth of their city. Not only that, they said that the people of their city were the greatest, the "finest," the strongest, the Biggest people on earth. They cited no authorities, and felt the need of none, being themselves the people thus celebrated. And if the thing was questioned, or if it was hinted that there might be one small virtue in which they were not perfect and supreme, they wasted no time examining themselves ...
— The Turmoil - A Novel • Booth Tarkington

... by Story in his Commentaries on the Constitution and this same line of argument has been followed by legal and political writers generally. But with all due respect for the eminent authorities who have placed so much stress on the political experience of other countries, we may venture to ask if the parallel which they have assumed really exists. Is the use made of this argument from analogy ...
— The Spirit of American Government - A Study Of The Constitution: Its Origin, Influence And - Relation To Democracy • J. Allen Smith

... 3: Pope Nicolas confirms his words by quoting the two authorities given in the preceding objections: wherefore the answer to this is clear from the ...
— Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) - From the Complete American Edition • Thomas Aquinas


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