<B>authoritarianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the principle of obedience to authority; body of principles underlying authoritarian belief or practice. <BR> <I>Ex. The authoritarianism of dictatorship is usually shattered in revolution. The sciences ... have endeavored to dispossess authoritarianism and to substitute for it direct, confirmable observation (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="authoritative">
<B>authoritative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having authority; officially ordered; proceeding from a recognized authority. <BR> <I>Ex. Authoritative orders came to the ambassador from the president.</I> (SYN) official. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or characterized by authority; commanding. <BR> <I>Ex. In authoritative tones the policeman shouted, "Keep back."</I> (SYN) peremptory, imperious. <DD><B> 3. </B>that ought to be believed or obeyed; entitled to obedience or respect; having the authority of expert knowledge. <BR> <I>Ex. A doctor's statement concerning the cause of an illness is considered authoritative. We have long desired an authoritative edition of this author's works.</I> (SYN) valid, authentic. adv. <B>authoritatively.</B> noun <B>authoritativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="authority">
<B>authority, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the power to enforce obedience; right to control, command, or make decisions; jurisdiction. <BR> <I>Ex. A father has authority over his children. A policeman has the authority to arrest speeding drivers.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person, body, board, or the like, that has such power, right, or jurisdiction. <BR> <I>Ex. The authority came to the door and asked why I wasn't in school.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a source of correct information or wise advice; book or passage regarded as settling a disputed point. <BR> <I>Ex. A good dictionary is an authority on the meanings of words.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>an expert on some subject; person whose advice or opinion is accepted. <BR> <I>Ex. He is an authority on the Revolutionary War. Recognizing all these pitfalls, many authorities ... insist economists should never make precise predictions (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>power over the opinions of others; influence that commands respect and confidence. <BR> <I>Ex. the authority of Aristotle.</I> (SYN) prestige. <DD><B> 6. </B>delegated power; authorization. <BR> <I>Ex. An appointed official derives his authority from the President.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>a judicial opinion that may be cited as a precedent. <BR><I>expr. <B>the authorities,</B> </I>the officials in control; government of a country, state, or local area. <BR> <I>Ex. Who are the proper authorities to give permits to hunt or fish?</I> </DL>
<A NAME="authority">
<B>Authority, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a government body that runs some activity or business on behalf of the public. Authorities provide electricity for housing, develop ports, build turnpikes, and perform other public business functions. <I>New York Port Authority, Tennessee Valley Authority.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="authorization">
<B>authorization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of giving legal power to; authorizing. <BR> <I>Ex. The authorization of policemen to arrest beggars put an end to begging on the streets.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>official permission; legal right; sanction; warrant. <BR> <I>Ex. Congress gave the President authorization to help underdeveloped countries.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="authorize">
<B>authorize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to give power or right to. <BR> <I>Ex. The principal was authorized to speak for the teachers. The President authorized his ambassador to sign the treaty.</I> (SYN) empower. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make legal; approve; sanction. <BR> <I>Ex. Congress authorized the spending of money for a new post office.</I> (SYN) commission. <DD><B> 3. </B>to give authority for; justify. <BR> <I>Ex. The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "traveler" and "traveller."</I> noun <B>authorizer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="authorized">
<B>authorized, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having authority; authoritative. <DD><B> 2. </B>supported or sanctioned by authority. </DL>
<A NAME="authorizedversion">
<B>Authorized Version,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the English translation of the Bible published in 1611 during the reign of James I of England (and therefore often called the <I>King James Version</I>). (Abbr:) A.V. </DL>
<A NAME="authorsalteration">
<B>author's alteration,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a change in the original version of a manuscript, made by an author after the printer has set the manuscript in type. </DL>
<A NAME="authorship">
<B>authorship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the origin as to author. <BR> <I>Ex. What is the authorship of that novel?</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the source or cause of anything. <DD><B> 3. </B>the occupation of an author; writing. <BR> <I>Ex. The profession of literature, or to speak more plainly, the trade of authorship (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="authver">
<B>Auth. Ver.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Authorized Version (of the Bible). </DL>
<A NAME="autism">
<B>autism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a disorder in development that usually begins before the age of four, characterized especially by an inability to relate socially to other people. </DL>
<A NAME="autist">
<B>autist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who tries to escape from reality by indulging in fantasy. </DL>
<A NAME="autistic">
<B>autistic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or characterized by autism; lacking interest in or awareness of external reality. <DD><I>noun </I> an autistic person, especially a child. </DL>
<A NAME="auto">
<B>auto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tos.</B> =automobile.</DL>
<A NAME="auto">
<B>auto-</B> (1),<DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) <DD><B> 1. </B>self: <I>Autohypnosis = self-hypnosis.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or by oneself: <I>Autobiography = biography of oneself.</I> Also, <B>aut-.</B> </DL>
<B>autoanalysis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>psychological analysis of a person by himself. <DD><B> 2. </B>analysis by an autoanalyzer. </DL>
<A NAME="autoanalyzer">
<B>autoanalyzer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electronic or mechanical device that automatically analyzes a thing. </DL>
<A NAME="autoantibody">
<B>autoantibody, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bodies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an antibody that attacks the body's own cells and tissues. </DL>
<A NAME="autobahn">
<B>autobahn</B> or <B>Autobahn, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bahns,</B> <B>-bahnen.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in Germany) an express highway; turnpike or expressway. </DL>
<A NAME="autobike">
<B>autobike, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a motorbike. </DL>
<A NAME="autobiographer">
<B>autobiographer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who writes the story of his own life. </DL>
<B>autobiographical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with the story of one's own life. <DD><B> 2. </B>telling or writing the story of one's own life. <BR> <I>Ex. The novel has about it such a solid air of reality that I originally suspected a sizable element might be autobiographical (Atlantic).</I> adv. <B>autobiographically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="autobiography">
<B>autobiography, </B>noun, pl. <B>-phies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the story of a person's life written by himself. <DD><B> 2. </B>the writing of such an account. </DL>
<A NAME="autocade">
<B>autocade, </B>noun. =motorcade.</DL>
<A NAME="autocar">
<B>autocar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Rare.) an automobile. </DL>
<A NAME="autocatalysis">
<B>autocatalysis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) the catalysis of a reaction by a product of its own making. </DL>
<A NAME="autocatalytic">
<B>autocatalytic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with autocatalysis. <DD><B> 2. </B>resembling autocatalysis. </DL>
<B>autocephalous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> independent of jurisdiction; self-governing, as certain Greek Orthodox churches, bishops, or ministers. </DL>
<A NAME="autochthon">
<B>autochthon, </B>noun, pl. <B>-thons,</B> <B>-thones.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person sprung from the land he inhabits; a native. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of the native animals or plants of a region. </DL>
<A NAME="autochthonism">
<B>autochthonism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> autochthonous origin or condition. </DL>
<A NAME="autochthonous">
<B>autochthonous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>originating where found; aboriginal; indigenous. <DD><B> 2. </B>belonging to a region; native. <BR> <I>Ex. Most of them [Native Americans] believe themselves to be autochthonous (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<B>autocide, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an automobile crash that causes one's own death. </DL>
<A NAME="autoclave">
<B>autoclave, </B>noun, verb, <B>-claved,</B> <B>-claving.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a strong, closed vessel used especially for sterilizing and cooking. It develops superheated steam under pressure. <BR> <I>Ex. The autoclave is practically the same as a pressure cooker (Fred W. Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a heavy vessel for chemical reactions which require high pressure. <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to sterilize or cook in an autoclave. </DL>
<A NAME="autocode">
<B>autocode, </B>noun, verb, <B>-coded,</B> <B>-coding.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a method of programming a digital computer to produce or adapt automatically the code it needs for solving a problem. <DD><B> 2. </B>the resulting code. <DD><B> 3. </B>the program for such a code. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to devise such a program or code. </DL>
<A NAME="autocoid">
<B>autocoid, </B>noun. =autacoid.</DL>
<A NAME="autocollimation">
<B>autocollimation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> collimation of an optical instrument by the use of a flat mirror in which the objective lens is reflected. </DL>
