*author*

n. [ OE. authour, autour, OF. autor, F. auteur, fr. L. auctor, sometimes, but erroneously, written autor or author, fr. augere to increase, to produce. See Auction, n. ] 1. The beginner, former, or first mover of anything; hence, the efficient cause of a thing; a creator; an originator. [ 1913 Webster ]

Eternal King; thee, Author of all being. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who composes or writes a book; a composer, as distinguished from an editor, translator, or compiler. [ 1913 Webster ]

The chief glory of every people arises from its authors. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The editor of a periodical. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An informant. [ Archaic ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To occasion; to originate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Such an overthrow . . . I have authored. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To tell; to say; to declare. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

More of him I dare not author. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female author. Glover. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word is not very much used, author being commonly applied to a female writer as well as to a male. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to an author. “The authorial &unr_;we.'” Hare. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 1. grant authorization or clearance for. Same as authorize.
Syn. -- authorize, pass, clear, permit officially. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Authorship. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty; -- of governments or rulers; as, an authoritarian regime
Syn. -- autocratic, dictatorial, despotic, tyrannical [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. 1 expecting unquestioning obedience: "he was imperious and dictatorial"; "the timid child of authoritarian parents"; "insufferably overbearing behavior toward the waiter"
Syn. -- dictatorial, overbearing [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 behaves like a tyrant.
Syn. -- dictator [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. Having, or proceeding from, due authority; entitled to obedience, credit, or acceptance; determinate; commanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sacred functions of authoritative teaching. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having an air of authority; positive; dictatorial; peremptory; as, an authoritative tone. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mock authoritative manner of the one, and the insipid mirth of the other. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Au*thor"i*ta*tive*ly, adv. -- Au*thor"i*ta*tive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit.
Syn. -- government, regime. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Authorities [ OE. autorite, auctorite, F. autorité, fr. L. auctoritas, fr. auctor. See Author, n. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus can the demigod, Authority,
Make us pay down for our offense. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

By what authority doest thou these things ? Matt. xxi. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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.” Milton. (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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wilt thou be glass wherein it shall discern
Authority for sin, warrant for blame. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. authorisabilis. ] Capable of being authorized. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. autorisation. ] The act of giving authority or legal power; establishment by authority; sanction or warrant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The authorization of laws. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

A special authorization from the chief. Merivale. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Authorized p. pr. & vb. n. Authorizing. ] [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make legal; to give legal sanction to; to legalize; as, to authorize a marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To establish by authority, as by usage or public opinion; to sanction; as, idioms authorized by usage. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To sanction or confirm by the authority of some one; to warrant; as, to authorize a report. [ 1913 Webster ]

A woman's story at a winter's fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To justify; to furnish a ground for. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

To authorize one's self, to rely for authority. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Authorizing himself, for the most part, upon other histories. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Possessed of or endowed with authority; as, an authorized agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sanctioned by authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Authorized Version of the Bible is the English translation of the Bible published in 1611 under sanction of King James I. It was “appointed to be read in churches, ” and has been the accepted English Bible. The Revised Version was published in a complete form in 1855. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who authorizes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without an author; without authority; anonymous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Authorial. [ R. ] Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality or state of being an author; function or dignity of an author. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Source; origin; origination; as, the authorship of a book or review, or of an act, or state of affairs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a writer who collaborates with others in writing something.
Syn. -- joint author. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. 1. to to be an author of, together with another author or authors; to author jointly with others. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to exist together at the same time.
Syn. -- coexist. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To deprive of credit or authority; to discredit. [ R. ] W. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. exauctoratus, p. p. of exauctorare to dismiss; ex out + auctorare to bind to something, to hire, fr. auctor. See Author. ] To deprive of authority or office; to depose; to discharge. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Exauthorated for their unworthiness. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Deprivation of authority or dignity; degration. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. ex- + authorize. ] To deprive of uthority. [ Obs. ] Selden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. ex- + authorize. ] To deprive of authority. [ Obs. ] Selden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without authority; not authoritative. [ 1913 Webster ]