1. (n.) 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.
2. (n.) Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command; as, the local authorities of the States; the military authorities.
3. (n.) 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.
4. (n.) That which, or one who, is claimed or appealed to in support of opinions, actions, measures, etc.
5. (n.) Testimony; witness.
6. (n.) A precedent; a decision of a court, an official declaration, or an opinion, saying, or statement worthy to be taken as a precedent.
7. (n.) A book containing such a statement or opinion, or the author of the book.
8. (n.) Justification; warrant.
Thesaurus Entries
Admirable Crichton, acme, adept, administration, adviser, affidavit, aficionado, agency, agentship, amateur, amperage, announcer, annunciator, appurtenance, arbiter, arbiter elegantiarum, arbiter of taste, armipotence, artisan, artist, artiste, ascendancy, assignment, attache, attestation, authoritativeness, authorities, authority, authorization, be-all and end-all, beef, bill of health, birthright, black power, blue ribbon, bon vivant, brevet, brute force, buff, care, certificate, certificate of proficiency, certification, championship, channel, charge, charisma, charm, claim, claws, clearance, clout, clutches, cogence, cogency, cognoscente, collector, command, commission, commissioning, commitment, communicant, communicator, compulsion, conduct, conjugal right, connaisseur, connoisseur, consequence, consignment, consultant, control, cordon bleu, countenance, crack shot, craftsman, credential, credit, critic, cure, dead shot, delegated authority, delegation, demand, deposition, deputation, devolution, devolvement, dilettante, dint, diploma, diplomat, diplomatist, direction, directorship, disposition, divine right, doctor, dominance, domination, dominion, drive, droit, due, duress, effect, effectiveness, effectuality, elder, elder statesman, embassy, eminence, empery, empire, empowerment, enabling, enchantment, energy, enfranchisement, enlightener, entitlement, entrusting, entrustment, epicure, epicurean, errand, establishment, esteem, evidence, example, executorship, exemplar, exequatur, experienced hand, experimental scientist, expert, expert consultant, expert witness, factorship, faculty, fan, favor, fiat, first place, first prize, flower power, force, force majeure, forcefulness, freak, full blast, full force, full power, good feeling, good judge, gossipmonger, gourmand, gourmet, governance, government, graduate, grapevine, great soul, greatness, grip, guidance, guru, hand, handling, hands, handy man, headship, hegemony, height, highest, hold, husbandry, ideal, illuminate, imperium, importance, inalienable right, incidental power, influence, influentiality, influentialness, informant, information center, information medium, informer, insinuation, intellect, intellectual, interest, interviewee, iron hand, journeyman, judge, jurisdiction, justness, kingship, lead, leadership, leading, legation, leverage, license, lieutenancy, lordship, lover of wisdom, magisterialness, magnetism, mahatma, main force, main strength, man of intellect, man of science, man of wisdom, mana, management, managery, managing, mandarin, mandate, manipulation, marksman, master, mastermind, mastership, mastery, maven, maximum, mentor, might, might and main, mightiness, mission, model, moment, monitor, most, mouthpiece, moxie, muscle power, navicert, ne plus ultra, new high, newsmonger, no slouch, notarized statement, note, notifier, nut, office
