What does "authorize" mean?

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

Additional senses

  1. 2.To establish by authority, as by usage or public opinion; to sanction; as, idioms authorized by usage.
  2. 3.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.
  3. 4.To justify; to furnish a ground for. Locke.

Sources