authority
/əˈθɔɹədi/ noun B1- Power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right. · I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.· Vigilantes may have the power to nab criminals, but they lack the authority.
- Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement. · Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.
- A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject. · the world's foremost authority on orangutans· My cheap dictionary is not the authority on word derivations.
- Status as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or reputation. · Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument from authority is considered a logical fallacy.
- Official permission; authorisation to act in some capacity on behalf of a ruling entity.
- A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit. · New York Port Authority· Chicago Transit Authority
Plural authorities
From the library
Seeing a stranger, escorted by two turnkeys holding torches and accompanied by two soldiers, and to whom the governor spoke bareheaded, Dantès, who guessed the truth, and that the moment to address himself to the superior authorities was come, sprang forward with clasped hands.
“The order of imprisonment came from high authority, and the order for his liberation must proceed from the same source; and, as Napoleon has scarcely been reinstated a fortnight, the letters have not yet been forwarded.”
He had hurried back to the house, followed within a few minutes by the police sergeant, who arrived at the scene of the crime a little after twelve o’clock, after taking prompt steps to warn the county authorities that something serious was afoot.
This was the inspector’s first visit; he wished to display his authority.
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