# warrant

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈwɒɹənt/ · frequency rank #4,812

## Definitions
1. Authorization or certification; a sanction, as given by a superior.
2. Something that provides assurance or confirmation; a guarantee or proof.
3. An order that serves as authorization; especially a voucher authorizing payment or receipt of money.
4. An option, usually issued together with another security and with a term at issue greater than a year, to buy other securities of the issuer.
5. A judicial writ authorizing an officer to make a search, seizure, or arrest, or to execute a judgment.
6. Ellipsis of warrant officer.
7. Ellipsis of warrant officer.
8. A document certifying that a motor vehicle meets certain standards of mechanical soundness and safety; a warrant of fitness.
9. A defender, a protector.
10. Underclay in a coal mine.

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English warant (“protector; guard, shield, protection”), from Anglo-Norman warrant, Old Northern French warant, warand, a variant of Old French guarant, garant, garand (“assurance, guarantee; authorization, permission; protector; protection, safety”) (modern French garant), from Frankish *warand, present participle of *warjan (“to fend off; to stop, thwart”). The word is cognate with Old High German werento (“guarantor”).
The verb is derived from Middle English warrant, waranten (“to give protection; to protect, shield; to assure, pledge, promise; to guarantee”), from Anglo-Norman warantir, warandir, warentir, and Old Northern French warandir, warantir, variant forms of Old French guarantir (“to protect”) (modern French garantir), a Romance formation from the noun guarant: see above.

## Easily confused with
- **warren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warrant-vs-warren)
- **warring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warrant-vs-warring)
- **warranty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warrant-vs-warranty)
- **warranted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warrant-vs-warranted)
- **warcraft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warcraft-vs-warrant)

## Common misspellings (9)
`awrrant`, `warant`, `wararnt`, `warrannt`, `warrantt`, `warratn`, `warrnat`, `wrarant`, `wwarrant`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/warrant