Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WAR'RANT, n.

1. An act, instrument or obligation, by which one person authorizes another to do something which he has not otherwise a right to do; an act or instrument investing one with a right or authority, and thus securing him from loss or damage; a word of general application.
2. A precept authorizing an officer to seize an offender and bring him to justice. A general warrant to seize suspected persons, is illegal.
3. Authority; power that authorizes or justifies any act. Those who preach the Gospel have the warrant of Scripture. We have the warrant of natural right to do what the laws do not forbid; but civility and propriety may sometimes render things improper, which natural right warrants.
4. A commission that gives authority, or that justifies.
5. A voucher; that which attests or proves.
6. Right; legality. There's warrant in that theft / Which steals itself when there's no mercy left. – Shak. [Obs.]
7. A writing which authorizes a person to receive money or other thing. Warrant of attorney, that by which a man appoints another to act in his name, and warrants his transaction. Land warrant, is an instrument or writing issued by the proper officer, authorizing a person to locate or take up a tract of new or uncultivated land. – United States. Search warrant, a precept authorizing a person to enter houses, shops, &c., to search for a criminal, or for stolen or smuggled goods. Warrant officer, an officer holding a warrant from the navy board, such as the master, surgeon, purser, &c. of a ship.