Search the Dictionary

Enacted by statute; depending on statute for its authority; as, a statutory provision.

; as, to strengthen a limb, a bridge, an army; to strengthen an obligation; to strengthen authority. Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest, . . . With powerful policy strengthen themselves. Shak.

the imagination. By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain. Dryden. Those put a lawful authority upon the stretch, to the abuse of yower, under the color of prerogative. L'Estrange.

That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.

The act of submitting; the act of yielding to power or authority; surrender of the person and power to the control or government of another; obedience; compliance. Submission, dauphin! 't is a mere French word; We English warrious wot not what it means. Shak.

To yield, resign, or surrender to power, will, or authority; -- often with the reflexive pronoun. Ye ben submitted through your free assent. Chaucer. The angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. Gen. xvi. 9. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. Eph. v. 22.…

The office or authority of one acting for another; delegated authority. [R.] Shak.

the suburbs of Rome subject to the pope as bishop of Rome. The pope having stretched his authority beyond the bounds of his suburbicarian precincts. Barrow.

To give notice to, or command to appear, as in court; to cite by authority; as, to summon witnesses.

One who summons; one who cites by authority; specifically, a petty officer formerly employed to summon persons to appear in court; an apparitor.

The act of summoning; a call by authority, or by the command of a superior, to appear at a place named, or to attend to some duty. Special summonses by the king. Hallam. This summons . . . unfit either to dispute or disobey. Bp. Fell. He sent to summon the seditious, and to offer pardon; but neither summons nor pardon…

A collection of traditions received by the orthodox Mohammedans as of equal authority with the Koran.

ary by superabundance; unnecessary; useless; excessive; as, a superfluous price. Shak. An authority which makes all further argument or illustration superfluous. E. Everett. Superfluous interval (Mus.), an interval that exceeds a major or perfect interval by a semitone.

the charge and oversight of; to oversee with the power of direction; to take care of with authority; to supervise; as, an officer superintends the building of a ship or the construction of a fort. The king may appoint a council, who may superintend the works of this nature. Bacon.

To oversee for direction; to superintend; to inspect with authority; as, to supervise the construction of a steam engine, or the printing of a book.

The state of being supreme, or in the highest station of power; highest or supreme authority or power; as, the supremacy of a king or a parliament. The usurped power of the pope being destroyed, the crown was restored to its supremacy over spiritual men and causes. Blackstone. Oath supremacy, an oath which acknowledges…

Highest in authority; holding the highest place in authority, government, or power. He that is the supreme King of kings. Shak.

Done or made by stealth, or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently; clandestine; stealthy; as, a surreptitious passage in an old manuscript; a surreptitious removal of goods. -- Sur`rep*ti"tious*ly, adv.

The dominion or authority of a suzerain; paramount authority.

To influence or direct by power and authority; by persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. The will of man is by his reason swayed. Shak. She could not sway her house. Shak. This was the race To sway the world, and land and sea subdue. Dryden.