auctorite

Middle English

FWOTD – 8 December 2018

Alternative forms

• auctoritee, auctoryte, autorite, autoritee, autoryte, awtorite, outorytye

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French auctorité, from Latin auctōritātem, accusative of auctōritās; equivalent to auctour +‎ -ite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /au̯tɔriˈteː/, /au̯ktɔriˈteː/
• Rhymes: -eː
• Hyphenation: auc‧tor‧i‧te

Noun

auctorite (plural auctorites)

1. Legal authority or control; the privilege of exercising control.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Pardoners Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio lxx, recto, column 2:

     And who ſo fyndeth hym out of ſuche blame / Commeth up and offre in goddes name / And I assoyle hym by the auctorite / Such as by bulle was graunted to me.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. The right to perform a given action; approval, permission.
3. A mixture of charisma and willpower; conviction.
4. Legal effectiveness or standing; genuineness.
5. The state of being recognized and regarded as useful; worthiness.
6. The book, quotation, or source that settles an argument; a definitive, reliable, or precise document or text.

Related terms

• auctour

Descendants

• English: authority
• Scots: authority, authoritie