v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Authorized p. pr. & vb. n. Authorizing. ] [ OE. autorize, F. autoriser, fr. LL. auctorizare, authorisare. See Author. ] 1. To clothe with authority, warrant, or legal power; to give a right to act; to empower; as, to authorize commissioners to settle a boundary. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make legal; to give legal sanction to; to legalize; as, to authorize a marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To establish by authority, as by usage or public opinion; to sanction; as, idioms authorized by usage. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To sanction or confirm by the authority of some one; to warrant; as, to authorize a report. [ 1913 Webster ]

A woman's story at a winter's fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To justify; to furnish a ground for. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

To authorize one's self, to rely for authority. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Authorizing himself, for the most part, upon other histories. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Possessed of or endowed with authority; as, an authorized agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sanctioned by authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Authorized Version of the Bible is the English translation of the Bible published in 1611 under sanction of King James I. It was “appointed to be read in churches, ” and has been the accepted English Bible. The Revised Version was published in a complete form in 1855. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who authorizes. [ 1913 Webster ]