authorize
VerbUS[aw-ther-ahyz]/ˈɔθɚˌaɪz/3 syllables
Open English WordNet
Verb (2)authorized, authorizing
- grant authorization or clearance for“Clear the manuscript for publication”“The rock star never authorized this slanderous biography”Synonyms: authorisepassclearMore general permit, allowMore specific approve, license, validate, declare, commission, approbate, certificate
- give or delegate power or authority to“She authorized her assistant to sign the papers”Synonyms: empowerauthoriseMore general appoint, chargeMore specific entitle, sanction
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haphazardadjective
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Au′thor·ize (…), transitive verb [past tense & past participle Authorized (…); present participle & verbal noun Authorizing.]
Origin: OE. autorize, F. autoriser, fr. LL. auctorizare, authorisare. See Author.
1. To clothe with authority, warrant, or legal power; to give a right to act; to empower; as, to authorize commissioners to settle a boundary.
2. To make legal; to give legal sanction to; to legalize; as, to authorize a marriage.
3. To establish by authority, as by usage or public opinion; to sanction; as, idioms authorized by usage.
4. To sanction or confirm by the authority of some one; to warrant; as, to authorize a report.
A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by her grandam.— William Shakespeare
5. To justify; to furnish a ground for. John Locke
To authorize one's self, to rely for authority. obsolete
Authorizing himself, for the most part, upon other histories.— Sir Philip Sidney
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54