authorityとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From Middle English auctorite, autorite (“authority, book または quotation that settles an argument”), from Old French auctorité, from Latin stem of auctōritās (“invention, advice, opinion, influence, command”), from auctor (“master, leader, author”). For the presence of the h, compare the etymology of author.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA^(key): /ɔːˈθɒɹəti/, /ɔːˈθɒɹɪti/
• (米国発音) IPA^(key): /əˈθɔɹəti/, /əˈθɑɹəti/
• (廃れた用法) IPA^(key): /ɒːˈtɒɹɪti/
• ハイフネーション: au‧thor‧i‧ty
• 韻: -ɒɹɪti

名詞

authority (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 authorities)

1. (uncountable) The power to enforce rules or give orders.

   I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.

   She lost all her respect and authority after turning up drunk to the meeting.

   Respect my authority!

   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.i:

     SIR PETER. Very well! ma'am very well! so a husband is to have no influence, no authority?

     LADY TEAZLE. Authority! no, to be sure—if you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me and not married me[:] I am sure you were old enough.

   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V

     But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.

2. (plural) Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power to enforce rules; government or law enforcement.

   Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.

   • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:

     The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.

   • 1997, Carlin, George, “WELL, YA GOTTA LIVE SOMEPLACE”, in Brain Droppings‎^[1], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, LCCN 96-52373, OCLC 36084460, OL 26335012M, page 16:

     Of course, living in the South was never an option—the main problem being they have too much respect for authority; they're soldier-sniffers and cop lovers.

   • 2013 August 10, “Legal highs: A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.

3. (countable) A source of reliable information on a subject.

   the world's foremost authority on orangutans

   My cheap dictionary is not the authority on word derivations.

   • 1930 September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1988) by Banesh Hoffman

     To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.

4. A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity.

   New York Port Authority

派生語

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