ˈȯthəˌrīz transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Usage: see -ize
Etymology: alteration of Middle English autorisen, from Middle French autoriser, from Medieval Latin auctorizare, from Latin auctor + Late Latin -izare -ize
1.
a. : to endorse, empower, justify, or permit by or as if by some recognized or proper authority (as custom, evidence, personal right, or regulating power)
authorize a new version
: sanction
idiom authorized by use
he was not authorized to use my name
I would on no account authorize in my girls the smallest degree of arrogance — Jane Austen
b. archaic : to furnish grounds for : justify
2. obsolete : to vouch for : confirm the truth or reality of by alleging one's own or another's authority
3. obsolete : to give legality or effective force to (a power, instrument, order)
4.
a. : to endow with authority or effective legal power, warrant, or right : appoint, empower, or warrant regularly, legally, or officially
Congress has authorized the President to suspend the operation of a Statute — O.W.Holmes †1935
before Ferdinand and Isabella authorized the first voyage — Times Literary Supplement
b. : to grant or allot by proper authority
a million dollars authorized for the new bridge
Synonyms:
accredit , commission , license : authorize indicates endowing formally with a power or right to act, usually with discretionary privileges
a whipping post was erected and the keeper authorized to punish the convicts — Marjorie Freer
Sometimes it applies to the sanction of any force viewed as authoritative
an informality authorized by custom
an agent authorized by the heirs
a rite authorized by a church council
accredit may imply endowing or giving formal credentials or proof of authorization to
all ambassadors, ministers, and consuls accredited to foreign states — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
the Association of American Railroads has had a competent mechanical engineer duly accredited to the Atomic Energy Commission — W.T.Faricy
commission may imply the conferring, usually formal, of rank, office, or status, or specific instructions about duties and missions
Delaware, in commissioning its delegates, restrained them from assenting to any change in the “rule of suffrage” — E.K.Alden
I commissioned a mutual friend … to break the matter to this gentleman as delicately as possible — W.M.Thackeray
license may indicate issuance of a formal legal document setting forth a particular permission or right
licensed to dispense narcotics
he was licensed as a pilot
In other senses license may suggest a certain sanction in proceeding with what might be questioned or questionable
through the character of Huck, that disreputable, illiterate little boy … he [Mark Twain] was licensed to let himself go — Van Wyck Brooks