Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Authorize \Au"thor*ize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Authorized}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Authorizing}.] [OE. autorize, F. autoriser, fr.
   LL. auctorizare, authorisare. See {Author}.]
   1. To clothe with authority, warrant, or legal power; to give
      a right to act; to empower; as, to authorize commissioners
      to settle a boundary.

   2. To make legal; to give legal sanction to; to legalize; as,
      to authorize a marriage.

   3. To establish by authority, as by usage or public opinion;
      to sanction; as, idioms authorized by usage.

   4. To sanction or confirm by the authority of some one; to
      warrant; as, to authorize a report.

            A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by
            her grandam.                          --Shak.

   5. To justify; to furnish a ground for. --Locke.

   {To authorize one's self}, to rely for authority. [Obs.]

            Authorizing himself, for the most part, upon other
            histories.                            --Sir P.
                                                  Sidney.

Source : WordNet®

authorize
     v 1: grant authorization or clearance for; "Clear the manuscript
          for publication"; "The rock star never authorized this
          slanderous biography" [syn: {authorise}, {pass}, {clear}]
     2: give or delegate power or authority to; "She authorized her
        assistant to sign the papers" [syn: {empower}, {authorise}]