Authority (from the Latin auctoritas) is a right conferred by recognized social position. Authority often refers to power vested in an individual or organization by the state. Authority can also refer to recognized expertise in an area of academic knowledge. An Authority (capitalized) refers to a governing body upon which certain authority (with lower case a) is vested.
Famous quotes containing the word authority:
“And truly Philosophy is but sophisticated poetry. Whence do those ancient writers derive all their authority but from the poets?”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“... each of them is inhabited by a bland demon, as the German metaphysicians used to call that which gets into a man and makes him creative, not so forcibly that it turns them away from criticism, but valid enough to give them the right to speak with the authority of artists.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)