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warrant

[wawr-uh nt, wor-]
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noun
  1. authorization, sanction, or justification.
  2. something that serves to give reliable or formal assurance of something; guarantee, pledge, or security.
  3. something considered as having the force of a guarantee or as being positive assurance of a thing: The cavalry and artillery were considered sure warrants of success.
  4. a writing or document certifying or authorizing something, as a receipt, license, or commission.
  5. Law. an instrument, issued by a magistrate, authorizing an officer to make an arrest, seize property, make a search, or carry a judgment into execution.
  6. the certificate of authority or appointment issued to an officer of the armed forces below the rank of a commissioned officer.
  7. a warehouse receipt.
  8. a written authorization for the payment or receipt of money: a treasury warrant.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to give authority to; authorize.
  2. to give reason or sanction for; account for: The circumstances warrant such measures.
  3. to give one's word for; vouch for (often used with a clause to emphasize something asserted): I'll warrant he did!
  4. to give a formal assurance, or a guarantee or promise, to or for; guarantee: to warrant someone honorable treatment; to warrant payment; to warrant safe delivery.
  5. to guarantee the quantity, quality, and other representations of (an article, product, etc.), as to a purchaser.
  6. to guarantee or secure title to (the purchaser of goods); assure indemnification against loss to.
  7. Law. to guarantee title of an estate or other granted property (to a grantee).
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Origin of warrant

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English warant < Anglo-French; Old French guarant < Germanic; compare Middle Low German warend, -ent warranty, noun use of present participle of waren to warrant; (v.) Middle English < Anglo-French warantir; Old French g(u)arantir, derivative of guarant; see guaranty
Related formswar·rant·less, adjectivenon·war·rant·ed, adjectivepre·war·rant, noun, verb (used with object)qua·si-war·rant·ed, adjectivere·war·rant, verb (used with object)self-war·rant·ing, adjectiveun·war·rant·ed, adjectiveun·war·rant·ed·ly, adverbwell-war·rant·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

sanctionlicensecertificatepermissionsummonssubpoenapassportpermitticketpledgecredentialaccreditationupholdaffirmrequirenecessitatestipulateexplainensureundertake

Examples from the Web for warrant

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "If your cask is leer, I warrant your purse is full, gaffer," shouted Hordle John.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • "If you will warrant the beer, I will warrant the throat," said John composedly.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • I'll warrant you have lost a dozen between Mallory's and here.

  • Again Kitty nodded, after looking up at him in alarm when he spoke of the warrant.

  • But I'll warrant you there's a kitchen garden in the rear of the palace.

    Tanglewood Tales

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for warrant

warrant

noun
  1. anything that gives authority for an action or decision; authorization; sanction
  2. a document that certifies or guarantees, such as a receipt for goods stored in a warehouse, a licence, or a commission
  3. law an authorization issued by a magistrate or other official allowing a constable or other officer to search or seize property, arrest a person, or perform some other specified act
  4. (in certain armed services) the official authority for the appointment of warrant officers
  5. a security that functions as a stock option by giving the owner the right to buy ordinary shares in a company at a specified date, often at a specified price
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verb (tr)
  1. to guarantee the quality, condition, etc, of (something)
  2. to give authority or power to
  3. to attest to or assure the character, worthiness, etc, of
  4. to guarantee (a purchaser of merchandise) against loss of, damage to, or misrepresentation concerning the merchandise
  5. law to guarantee (the title to an estate or other property)
  6. to declare boldly and confidently
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Derived Formswarrantable, adjectivewarrantability, nounwarrantably, adverbwarranter, nounwarrantless, adjective

Word Origin

C13: from Anglo-French warrant, variant of Old French guarant, from guarantir to guarantee, of Germanic origin; compare guaranty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for warrant

n.

early 13c., "protector, defender," from Old North French warant (Old French garant), from Frankish *warand (cf. Old High German weren "to authorize, warrant," German gewähren "to grant"), from Proto-Germanic *war- "to warn, guard, protect," perhaps from PIE root *wer- "to cover" (cf. Latin vereri "to observe with awe, revere, respect, fear;" Greek ouros "watchman," horan "to see;" Hittite werite- "to see;" see weir).

Sense evolved via notion of "permission from a superior which protects one from blame or responsibility" (c.1300) to "document conveying authority" (1510s). A warrant officer in the military is one who holds office by warrant, rather than by commission.

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v.

late 13c., "to keep safe from danger," from Old North French warantir (Old French garantir), from warant (see warrant (n.)).

Meaning "to guarantee to be of quality" is attested from late 14c.; sense of "to guarantee as true" is recorded from c.1300. Related: Warranted; warranting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with warrant

warrant

see sign one's own death warrant.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.