Authority vs Command - What's the difference?
authority | command |
(label) The power to enforce rules or give orders.
* 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
(label) Persons in command; specifically, government.
*{{quote-book, year=1927, author=
, chapter=4, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (label) A person accepted as a source of reliable information on a subject.
* 1930 September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1988) by Banesh Hoffman
An order to do something.
The right or authority to order, control or dispose of; the right to be obeyed or to compel obedience.
power of control, direction or disposal; mastery.
A position of chief authority; a position involving the right or power to order or control.
The act of commanding; exercise or authority of influence.
(military) A body or troops, or any naval or military force, under the control of a particular officer; by extension, any object or body in someone's charge.
* 1899 ,
Dominating situation; range or control or oversight; extent of view or outlook.
(computing) A directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task.
(baseball) The degree of control a pitcher has over his pitches.
To order, give orders; to compel or direct with authority.
* Francis Bacon
* Shakespeare
To have or exercise supreme power, control or authority over, especially military; to have under direction or control.
* Macaulay
* Shakespeare
To require with authority; to demand, order, enjoin.
* 2013 , Louise Taylor, English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing'' (in ''The Guardian , 20 August 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/aug/19/english-talent-premier-league-importing]
to dominate through ability, resources, position etc.; to overlook.
To exact, compel or secure by influence; to deserve, claim.
To hold, to control the use of.
* Motley
* Shakespeare
* Addison
(archaic) To have a view, as from a superior position.
* Milton
(obsolete) To direct to come; to bestow.
* Bible, Leviticus xxv. 21
As nouns the difference between authority and command
is that authority is (uncountable) the power to enforce rules or give orders while command is an order, a compelling task given to an inferior or a machine.As a verb command is
to order, give orders; to compel or direct with authority.authority
English
Alternative forms
* authourity (obsolete)Noun
- But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.
F. E. Penny
Pulling the Strings, passage=The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities . A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.}}
Legal highs: A new prescription, passage=No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.}}
- To punish me for my contempt of authority', Fate has made me an ' authority myself.
Derived terms
* moral authorityStatistics
* English terms derived from Latincommand
English
Noun
(en noun)- I was given a command to cease shooting.
- to have command of an army
- he had command of the situation
- England has long held command of the sea
- a good command of language
- General Smith was placed in command .
- Command cannot be otherwise than savage, for it implies an appeal to force, should force be needful.'' (''H. Spencer , Social Statics, p. 180)
- I asked myself what I was to do there, now my boat was lost. As a matter of fact, I had plenty to do in fishing my command out of the river.
- He's got good command tonight.
Verb
(en verb)- The soldier was commanded to cease firing.
- The king commanded his servant to bring him dinner.
- We are commanded' to forgive our enemies, but you never read that we are ' commanded to forgive our friends.
- Go to your mistress: / Say, I command her come to me.
- to command an army or a ship
- Monmouth commanded the English auxiliaries.
- Such aid as I can spare you shall command .
- he commanded silence
- If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (Mat. IV. 3.)
- The reasons for this growing disconnect are myriad and complex but the situation is exacerbated by the reality that those English players who do smash through our game's "glass ceiling" command radically inflated transfer fees.
- Bridges commanded by a fortified house. (Motley.)
- A good magistrate commands the respect and affections of the people.
- Justice commands the respect and affections of the people.
- The best goods command the best price.
- This job commands a salary of £30,000.
- The fort commanded the bay.
- bridges commanded by a fortified house
- Up to the eastern tower, / Whose height commands as subject all the vale.
- One side commands a view of the finest garden.
- Far and wide his eye commands .
- I will command my blessing upon you.