English
authorize
Authorize comes from Old French auctorisier ‘to authorize’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-‘to increase, to enlarge’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauctor‘author, originator’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500auctōrizāre
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400auctorisier‘to authorize’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500auctorisen
- Englishearliest quotation 1986authorize
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-‘to increase, to enlarge’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauctor‘author, originator’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500auctōrizāre
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400auctorisier‘to authorize’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500auctorisen
- Englishearliest quotation 1986authorize
Earliest quotation: 1986, Paul E. Szarmach, Introduction: “The term “Alfredian” then is not univocal; it can…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’
august, auction, nickname, auxiliary, augment, eke, 11 more
through Latin auctor ‘author, originator’
Today it means
verb To grant (someone) the permission or power necessary to do (something); to permit; to sanction or consent to.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- / authorize