Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AU'THOR-IZE, v.t. [Fr. autoriser; Sp. autorizar.]

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; as, suppress desires which reason does not authorize.