"authority" in seven languages
Meaningauthority
Spanish
autoridad
/awtoɾiˈdad/
fem.learned
French
autorité
/otɔʁite/
fem.learned
Italian
autorità
/autoriˈta/
fem.learned
Portuguese
autoridade
/awtoɾiˈdadʒi/
fem.learned
Romanian
autoritate
/autoriˈtate/
fem.learned
Catalan
autoritat
/əwtuɾiˈtat/
fem.learned
English
authority
/əˈθɔɹəti/
from Latin/French · Old French autorite, from Latin
English → ItalianauthorityautoritàCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
AUCTŌRITĀTEM‘influence, prestige (of an AUCTOR, a guarantor)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The sisters dropped the c of AUCT- and kept the -tātem pattern (-dad, -té, -tà). English alone added an h, a Renaissance spelling that later changed how author and authority are said.
English relatives: author, authorize, authoritative
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esLa policía tiene autoridad para cerrar la carretera.
- frLa police a autorité pour fermer la route.
- itLa polizia ha l'autorità di chiudere la strada.
- ptA polícia tem autoridade para fechar a estrada.
- roPoliția are autoritatea de a închide drumul.
- caLa policia té autoritat per tancar la carretera.
- enThe police have the authority to close the road.