Definition of "authority"

authority

/ɔːˈθɒɹəti/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural authorities
1. (uncountable) Power or right to make or enforce rules or give orders; or a position having such power or right.
  Quotations
  SIR PETER. Very well! ma'am very well! so a husband is to have no influence, no authority?LADY TEAZLE. Authority! no, to be sure—if you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me and not married me[:] I am sure you were old enough.
  1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.i
  But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.
  1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […]
2. (plural) Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.
  Quotations
  The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
  1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
  No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.
  2013 August 10, “Legal highs: A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
  In China, authorities said they might soon shoot down an unidentified flying object over waters near the northern city of Rizhao, The South China Morning Post reported.
  2023 February 12, Daniel E. Slotnik, Amelia Nierenberg, “Your Monday Briefing: U.S. Destroys U.F.O.s”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 13 February 2023, Briefing
3. (countable) A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject.
  Quotations
  To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.
  1930 September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1988) by Banesh Hoffman
4. (uncountable) Status as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or reputation.
5. (uncountable) Official permission; authorisation to act in some capacity on behalf of a ruling entity.
  Quotations
  Authority to construct eight carriages, to test the new design in public service, had already been given; but of course complete working drawings had first to be prepared.
  1964 July, “XP64: New Standard Carriage Project”, in Modern Railways, page 2
6. (countable) A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.