authorization

American  

[aw-ther-uh-zay-shuhn] / ˌɔ θər əˈzeɪ ʃən /

especially British, authorisation

noun

• authorizations
  plural

1. the act of authorizing.

2. permission or power granted by an authority; sanction.

3. a legislative act authorizing money to be spent for government programs that specifies a maximum spending level without provision for actual funds.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• deauthorization
  noun
• misauthorization
  noun
• preauthorization
  noun
• reauthorization
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• authorizations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of authorization

First recorded in 1600–10; authorize + -ation

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Explanation

Authorization is an official form of approval for something. You'll probably need to get authorization from the owner of a coffee shop before you hang your oil paintings on the walls. People in control are known as authorities, and their official okay, or authorization, gives you the ability to do something. The authorization of a loan means the bank grants the loan. Authorization can also refer to someone's power — if you are able to fire people, you have the authorization to do so. At the root of authorization is the verb authorize, which comes from the Latin auctor, "master or leader," or "one who causes to grow."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

authorization authorizations

UniCredit said it had received the authorization from the ECB to "cross the 30% equity participation threshold in Commerzbank AG... and to increase its stake further without upper limits".

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

For comparison, Micron’s last authorization of $10 billion in May 2018 was about two quarters’ worth of gross profit at the time.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

A new State Department warning Thursday said U.S. government officials now need special authorization to use the Riyadh airport.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Fulfilling its buyback authorization will require far more free cash than Nvidia generates today.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

But now we had to at least prove that we had a right to work in the country, and that was exactly what the employment authorization card stipulated.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

The bipartisan Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act would move Medicare Advantage prior authorizations to an electronic system and require quicker response times and greater transparency from insurers.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

Under the program, which launched in January, prior authorizations for about 6.4 million Americans enrolled in traditional Medicare in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Washington state are being carried out by AI.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Some took the announcement that work authorizations remained in place — made late Wednesday by U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

They do this by employing the tried-and-true tactics of the insurance industry of unjustifiable bureaucratic decisions, superpowered by artificial intelligence: prior authorizations, unnecessary delays, claim denials, unreasonable reimbursements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

The war authorizations will also be reduced 3'7 billion dollars by carrying receipts of revolving accounts to surplus, by lapses, and by cancellation and repayment of commitments of the Government war corporations.

From State of the Union Address by Harry S. Truman

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Related Words

• approval
• authority
• endorsement
• green light
• sanction
• signature

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