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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
authorities \authorities\ n.
1. the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit.
Syn: government, regime. [WordNet 1.5]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Authority \Au*thor"i*ty\, noun; pl. {Authorities}. [OE. autorite, auctorite, F. autorit['e], fr. L. auctoritas, fr. auctor. See {Author}, noun]
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.
Thus can the demigod, Authority, Make us pay down for our offense. --Shak.
By what authority doest thou these things ? --Matt. xxi. 23.
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.]
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.
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.
Wilt thou be glass wherein it shall discern Authority for sin, warrant for blame. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
authorities
noun: the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit; "the government reduced taxes"; "the matter was referred to higher authorities" [syn: {government}, {regime}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
29 Moby Thesaurus words for "authorities": John Bull, Uncle Sam, Washington, Whitehall, bureaucracy, directorate, hierarchy, higher echelons, higher-ups, management, ministry, officialdom, prelacy, ruling class, ruling classes, the Crown, the Establishment, the administration, the authorities, the government, the ingroup, the interests, the people upstairs, the power elite, the power structure, the top, them, they, top brass
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |