Au-thōr'i-ty, n.
n. [Lat. auctoritas, Pr. auctoritat, autoritat, Sp. autoridad, Pg. authoridade, It. autorità, Fr. autorité. See AUTHOR.]
Sense 1. Legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; dominion; as, the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children.
Thus can the demigod, authority, Make us pay down for our offense. Shak.
By what authority doest thou these things? Matt. xxi. 23.
Sense 2. Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command; as, the local authorities of the States;—chiefly in the plural.
Sense 3. The power derived from opinion, respect, or esteem; influence of character, office, or station, or mental or moral superiority, and the like; as, an historian of no authority; a magistrate of great authority.
Sense 4. Testimony; witness; or the person who testifies; as, the Gospels or the evangelists are our authorities for the miracles of Christ.
And on that high authority had believed. Milton.
Sense 5. A precedent, a decision of a court, an official declaration, or an opinion, saying, or statement worthy to be taken as a precedent; also, a book that contains them, or the name of its author.