Legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; power exercised buy a person in virtue of his office or trust; dominion; jurisdiction; authorization; as, the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children; the authority of a court.
Government; the persons or the body exercising power or command; as, the local authorities of the States; the military authorities.
The power derived from opinion, respect, or esteem; influence of character, office, or station, or mental or moral superiority, and the like; claim to be believed or obeyed; as, an historian of no authority; a magistrate of great authority.
That which, or one who, is claimed or appealed to in support of opinions, actions, measures, etc.
Act of departing; departure.
A part, portion, or subdivision.
A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province.
Subdivision of business or official duty; especially, one of the principal divisions of executive government; as, the treasury department; the war department; also, in a university, one of the divisions of instruction; as, the medical department; the department of physics.
A territorial division; a district; esp., in France, one of the districts composed of several arrondissements into which the country is divided for governmental purposes; as, the Department of the Loire.
A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.
