AU'THORIZE, verb transitive 1. To give authority, warrant or legal power to; to give a right to act; to empower; as, to authorize commissioners to settle the boundary of the state. 2. To make legal; as, to authorize a marriage. 3. To establish by authority, as by usage, or public opinion; as an authorized idiom of language. 4. To give authority, credit or reputation to; as to authorize a report, or opinion. 5. To justify; to support as right. Suppress desires which reason does not authorize
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI