local authority

noun

"local-authority" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“local authority” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An administrative body in local government, such as a city council.

Corpus desk

Index EN-local-authority · local authority · English

local authority · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for local authority
PropertyValue
Headwordlocal authority
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “local authority” in English

local authoritysits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

local authority is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An administrative body in local government, such as a city council.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for local authority in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is local authority, spelled L-O-C-A-L- -A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    An administrative body in local government, such as a city council.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Some preliminary legal arrangements were made, but the scheme proceeded no further, as the various local authorities concerned were unwilling to speculate public funds on what was, even at that date, a will o' the wisp.
  2. Controversy has surrounded some of the schemes, which local authorities and commuters have seen as putting money-making before travel.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "local authority"?
"local authority" is spelled L-O-C-A-L- -A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-Y.
What does "local authority" mean?
As a noun, "local authority" means: An administrative body in local government, such as a city council.
What language does "local authority" come from?
"local authority" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list