authorise

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"authorise" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“authorise” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,329. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,329
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of authorize.

Corpus desk

Index EN-authorise · authorise · English

authorise · rank #37,329 · 12 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,329
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH aureus

Nearest frequency peer: aureus (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “authorise”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “authorise” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

authorise vs authors
78% similar
authorise vs authority
78% similar
authorise vs authorize
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for authorise
PropertyValue
Headwordauthorise
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Frequency rank#37,329
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “authorise”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).authoriselands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “aureus” (#37,328), “Aurelius” (#37,327), “Bacchus” (#37,331). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “authorise” is #37,329. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around authorise, averb. Corpus frequency is #37,329 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of authorize.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for authorise, with forms such as "atuhorise", "auhtorise", and "authhorise". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "authors", "authority", "authorize", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is authorise, spelled A-U-T-H-O-R-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of authorize.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how authorise appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the line to the North British Railway provided that that company should work it in perpetuity, and it was this clause that caused the interim interdict to be granted.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • atuhorise
  • auhtorise
  • authhorise
  • authoirse
  • authories
  • authorisse
  • authorrise
  • authorsie
  • authroise
  • autohrise
  • autthorise
  • uathorise

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of authorise - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

atuhorise2auhtorise2authhorise1authoirse2authories2authorisse1authorrise1authorsie2
Edit distance from "authorise"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "authorise"?
"authorise" is spelled A-U-T-H-O-R-I-S-E.
What does "authorise" mean?
As a verb, "authorise" means: Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of authorize.
What words are commonly confused with "authorise"?
"authorise" is commonly confused with "authors", "authority", "authorize". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "authorise" come from?
"authorise" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "authorise", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

artisanal#37,323belvedere#37,339Albemarle#37,311Adventist#37,310

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Alcatraz12 variantsactuarial12 variantsAbingdon12 variantsbuttercup12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list