AUTHORITY


Meaning of AUTHORITY in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ɔ:θɒrɪti, AM -tɔ:r- ]

( authorities)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.

The authorities are the people who have the power to make decisions and to make sure that laws are obeyed.

This provided a pretext for the authorities to cancel the elections...

N-PLURAL : oft the N

2.

An authority is an official organization or government department that has the power to make decisions.

...the Health Education Authority...

Any alterations had to meet the approval of the local planning authority.

N-COUNT : usu with supp , oft in names

see also local authority

3.

Authority is the right to command and control other people.

The judge had no authority to order a second trial.

N-UNCOUNT

4.

If someone has authority , they have a quality which makes other people take notice of what they say.

He had no natural authority and no capacity for imposing his will on others.

N-UNCOUNT

5.

Authority is official permission to do something.

The prison governor has refused to let him go, saying he must first be given authority from his own superiors.

= authorization

N-UNCOUNT

6.

Someone who is an authority on a particular subject knows a lot about it.

He’s universally recognized as an authority on Russian affairs.

= expert

N-COUNT : N on n

7.

If you say you have it on good authority that something is true, you mean that you believe it is true because you trust the person who told you about it.

I have it on good authority that there’s no way this light can cause skin cancer.

PHRASE : V inflects , PHR that

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне.