| Term: | authority |
| Definition: | A person or agent that can assert an opinion. |
| Examples: | "Me Tarzan, you Jane" (I assert two associations). "You're not Tarzan, you're John Clayton" (Jane disputes one of those associations). "According to his passport, he's Viscount Greystoke" (a third authority weighs in). A mother is an authority on the identities of her children. A state is an authority on the identities of its citizens. A website is an authority on responses to URLs submitted to it, such as, "here is the page for this URL", or "I don't know about that URL". |