Authorize

How to spell authorize

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce authorize

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does authorize mean?

1. verbTo give official permission or power for something to happen.

Authorize in a sentence

• The manager must authorize any refund over fifty dollars.

• Only a director can authorize a wire transfer of that size.

Where does authorize come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin auctor, which meant an originator, a promoter, or the person responsible for causing something to grow, itself rooted in the verb augere, 'to increase or make grow'. From auctor came the Medieval Latin auctorizare, meaning 'to give authority to' or 'to sanction'. English picked it up through Old French autoriser during the 1300s, when it carried the sense of granting official power or permission. The same auctor ancestor sits inside the everyday words 'author' and 'authority', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the 'author' chunk fully intact before the ending. The choice between the -ize and -ise endings is the real spelling decision here: the -ize form is standard in American and Canadian writing, while British writers conventionally use 'authorise'.

How the word is built

• author- (from auctor: originator, one who causes growth)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix meaning 'to make or cause')

British and American spelling

Authorize is the American spelling. British English spells it authorise.