local authority

noun

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

The verdict

“local authority” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An administrative body in local government, such as a city council.

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

Where “local authority” sits in English frequency

local authority falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for local authority is 15 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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.

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.

Using “local authority”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-O-C-A-L- -A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list