Authority given or conferred. Also: liberty or permission to act. Now chiefly merged in other senses, as senses 3a, 5a, etc.

The jurisdiction, authority, charge, or office of a bailie, n. or bailiff, n., in the original sense; jurisdiction or charge committed to an…

Authority committed or entrusted to a person; esp. delegated authority to act in a particular capacity, carry out an investigation or negotiation…

The authority with which an officer or magistrate has been lawfully invested. Obsolete.

Power derived from or conferred by another; the right to act in a specified way, delegated from one… Without construction.

= lieutenancy, n. 1.

A warrant or charge which is subsidiary to or dependent on another. rare in later use.

Delegated authority or command. Obsolete.

The state or fact of being empowered; the action or an act of empowering; (now) esp. the fact or action of acquiring more control over one's life or…

Authority or function granted (to a ruler, minister, delegate, court). (From modern French.)