Authorisation or authorization?
In American English write authorization; in British and Commonwealth English, authorisation. authorisation is a noun meaning “Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of authorization”; authorization is a noun meaning “An act of authorizing”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) authorization is about 5.1 times as common as authorisation.
What is the difference between authorisation and authorization?
| authorisation | authorization | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | BritishUSAn act of authorizing BritishUSThe state of being authorized to do something or to be somewhere; formally granted permission | |
| Example | none recorded | I've got authorization. Call the office and you'll see |
| Forms | authorisations | authorizations |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˌɔːθəɹaɪˈzeɪʃən/ /ˌoːθəɹɑjˈzɛjʃən/ /ˌɔθəɹəˈzeɪʃən/ |
| Region | UK | UK, US |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words | 5.5 times per million words |
Sources: authorisation and authorization in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of authorisation and authorization
authorization
- 1
BritishUSAn act of authorizing
- 2
BritishUSThe state of being authorized to do something or to be somewhere; formally granted permission
I've got authorization. Call the office and you'll see
- 3
BritishUSA document giving formal sanction, permission or warrant
Can I see your authorization?
- 4
BritishUSPermission, possibly limited, to spend funds for a specific budgetary purpose
We've had the authorization for years, but we've never gotten an appropriation
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, authorisation or authorization?
authorisation appears 1.1 times per million words; authorization 5.5 times per million words.
authorisation 1.1 times per million wordsauthorization 5.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search authorisation vs authorization?
“authorisation vs authorization” is searched about 1,900 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“authorization vs authorisation”, “authorisation or authorization”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.