Authenticate, aw-thent′ik-āt, v.t. to make authentic: to prove genuine: to give legal validity to: to certify the authorship of.—ns. Authenticā′tion, act of authenticating: confirmation; Authentic′ity, quality of being authentic: state of being true or in accordance with fact: genuineness.
Author, awth′or, n. one who originates or brings anything into being: a beginner or first mover of any action or state of things: the writer of an original book: elliptically for an author's writings: one's authority for something: an informant:—fem. Auth′oress.—adjs. Authō′rial, Auth′orish; Authorīs′able.—n. Authorisā′tion.—v.t. Auth′orise, to give authority to: to sanction: to permit: to justify: to establish by authority.—adj. Auth′orless, anonymous.—ns. Auth′orling, a petty author; Auth′orship, Auth′oring, Auth′orism, state or quality of being an author. [Through Fr. from L. auctor—augēre, auctum, to cause things to increase, to produce.]
Authority, awth-or′it-i, n. legal power or right: power derived from office or character: weight of testimony: permission:—pl. Author′ities, precedents: opinions or sayings carrying weight: persons in power.—adj. Author′itative, having the sanction or weight of authority: dictatorial.—adv. Author′itatively.—n. Author′itativeness. [L. auctoritatem, auctoritas, auctor.]
Autobiography, aw-to-bī-og′raf-i, n. the biography or life of a person written by himself.—n. Autobiog′rapher, one who writes his own life.—adjs. Autobiograph′ic, -al. [Gr. autos, one's self, bios, life, graphein, to write.]
Auto-car, aw′to-kär, n. a vehicle for the road moved from within by steam, electric power, &c. instead of by traction. [Gr. autos, self, and Car.]
Autocarpous, aw-to-kär′pus, adj. applied to such fruit as consists only of the pericarp, with no adnate parts. [Gr. autos, self, karpos, fruit.]
Autochthon, aw-tok′thon, n. one of the primitive inhabitants of a country: an aboriginal:—pl. Autoch′thons and Autoch′thones.—adj. Autoch′thonous.—ns. Autoch′thony, Autoch′thonism, the condition of being autochthonous. [Gr.; made up of autos, self, chthōn, chthonos, the soil; the Athenians claiming to have actually sprung from the soil on which they lived.]
Autocrat, aw′to-krat, n. one who rules by his own power: an absolute sovereign.—n. Autoc′racy, an absolute government by one man: despotism.—adj. Autocrat′ic,—adv. Autocrat′ically. [Gr. autokratēs—autos, self, kratos, power.]
Auto-da-fé, aw′to-da-fā′, n. the public declaration of the judgment passed on heretics in Spain and Portugal by the Inquisition, also the infliction of the punishment which immediately followed thereupon, esp. the public burning of the victims:—pl. Autos-da-fé. [Port. auto da fé = Sp. auto de fe; auto—L. actum, act; da—L. de, of; and fe—L. fides, faith.]
Autogenous, aw-toj′e-nus, adj. self-generated: independent.—n. Autog′eny, a mode of spontaneous generation. [Gr. autogenēs, autos, self, genos, offspring.]