https://www.etymonline.com/word/*aug-#etymonline_v_52551

https://www.etymonline.com/word/author

https://www.etymonline.com/word/authority

So I woke up, with a sudden thought set in my mind about "authority" and God. 

Then it suddenly came to me that since "authority" has the word "author" that authority must come from the "author". 

So I went about searching and found something interesting indeed. 

So I went to check the definition of author: 

"mid-14c., auctor, autour, autor "father, creator, one who brings about, one who makes or creates" someone or something, from Old French auctor, autor "author, originator, creator, instigator" (12c., Modern French auteur) and directly from Latin auctor "promoter, producer, father, progenitor; builder, founder; trustworthy writer, authority; historian; performer, doer; responsible person, teacher," etymologically "one who causes to grow." It is an agent noun from auctus, past participle of augere "to increase" (from PIE root *aug- (1) "to increase").

It is attested in English from late 14c. as "a writer, one who sets forth written statements, original composer of a writing" (as distinguished from a compiler, translator, copyist, etc.). Also from late 14c. as "source of authoritative information or opinion," which is now archaic but has the sense that is in authority, etc. In Middle English the word sometimes was confused with actor.

Assimilation of Latin -ct- to -t- began by 1c. in parts of Italy, and autor is attested in late classical Latin, though considered erroneous. The Appendix Probi, a list of correct spellings from perhaps 3c., has auctor non autor.

The changed to -th- began in English by early 15c. and mostly was accomplished 16c. It was done on the model of Medieval Latin which mistakenly assumed a Greek origin for the word and confused it with the unrelated source of authentic. Also see th."

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/author)

Interesting isn't it? The word "author" was originally a word that referred to our Father who is Highest in Heaven. He is the author from whom comes "authority", I mean we already know that God was the One from whom authority comes by definition of the word and knowledge of Him, but I never looked to find the actual etymology.

Now let us see what the word authority holds:

"c. 1200, autorite, auctorite "authoritative passage or statement, book or quotation that settles an argument, passage from Scripture," from Old French autorité, auctorité "authority, prestige, right, permission, dignity, gravity; the Scriptures" (12c.; Modern French autorité), from Latin auctoritatem (nominative auctoritas) "invention, advice, opinion, influence, command," from auctor "master, leader, author" (see author (n.)).

It usually was spelled with a -c- in English before 16c. but the letter was dropped in imitation of French, then with a -th-, probably by influence of authentic.

It is attested from c. 1300 in the general sense of "legal validity," also "authoritative doctrine" (opposed to reason or experience), also "author whose statements are regarded as correct." It is from mid-14c. as "right to rule or command, power to enforce obedience, power or right to command or act."

In Middle English it also meant "power derived from good reputation; power to convince people, capacity for inspiring trust." It is attested from c. 1400 as "official sanction, authorization." The meaning "persons in authority" is from 1610s; the authorities "those in charge, those with police powers" is recorded from mid-19c.

also from c. 1200"

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/authority)

So here we see that indeed the authority comes from the author. In fact it was recognized to refer to the Scriptures since the Old French. 

Now in latin, the word auctoritatem referred to an invention, advice, opinion, influence or command that came from the auctor(master, leader, author). From this we can conclude that every authority comes from the author and indeed that it makes sense to conclude that the Scriptures are one such authority from the Author.

So, one of the previous excerpts mentions the word authentic. Let's see if we find something interesting: 

"mid-14c., autentik, "authoritative, duly authorized" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French autentique "authentic; canonical" (13c., Modern French authentique) and directly from Medieval Latin authenticus, from Greek authentikos "original, genuine, principal," from authentēs "one acting on one's own authority," from autos "self" (see auto-) + hentēs "doer, being" (from PIE root *sene- (2) "to accomplish, achieve"). The sense of "real, entitled to acceptance as factual" is recorded from mid-14c.

Traditionally in modern use, authentic implies that the contents of the thing in question correspond to the facts and are not fictitious (hence "trustworthy, reliable"); while genuine implies that the reputed author is the real one and that we have it as it left the author's hand (hence "unadulterated"); but this is not always maintained: "The distinction which the 18th c. apologists attempted to establish between genuine and authentic ... does not agree well with the etymology of the latter word, and is not now recognized" [OED, 2nd ed. print, 1989].

also from mid-14c."

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/authentic#etymonline_v_18964)

Indeed we do find something VERY interesting. The meaning of "authentic" originates from the words "autos" and "hentes", which when combined result in the words self-doing or self-being. If we jump to using the proto-indo-european(what the excerpt means by PIE) root instead, we get self-accomplishing. Fascinating. Even language is pointing towards God and people don't see it. This means that the Word of God written in the Bible is indeed the greatest example of something authentic, because the Word indeed accomplishes itself. The Old Testament prophecies came true in Jesus(thus were self-accomplished since Jesus IS the Word as is written)) and the ones in the OT still being fulfilled now plus the ones written about in New Testament truly bring life to this Word and fulfill its meaning. 

What else can we get from words related to author? Let's see:

"authorize (v.)

late 14c., auctorisen, autorisen, "give formal approval or sanction to," also "confirm as authentic or true; regard (a book) as correct or trustworthy," from Old French autoriser, auctoriser "authorize, give authority to" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin auctorizare, from auctor (see author (n.)).


The meaning "give authority or legal power to" is from mid-15c. The modern spelling from late 16c. Related: Authorized; authorizing. Authorized Version as a popular name for the 1611 ("King James") English Bible is by 1811.

also from late 14c."

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/authorize#etymonline_v_25148)

So once again, another word that must be done by an auctor(master, leader, author). So of course the Word of God is Authorized by the Author (do note please I'm not referring to the part which talks about the KJV specifically, nor my opinions about it, just the Bible itself as a whole). 

If we go to the latin meanings of the word "authorize" which in latin is "auctorizare" we find five meanings translated from it; to authorize(obviously), to authenticate, to approve, to confirm, to bind one's self. 

So we already know that to authorize means to give authority to and to make authentic. Having applied this to the Bible, let us continue in a similar fashion for now. So we know that the Bible has God's authority, thus in that sense it has been authorized, we know it is authentic (self-accomplishing) thus it indeed has been authorized this way aswell. If the Bible has and is the Authority and is indeed Authentic then we can conclude that it is approved by God. If it is approved, then it is confirmed and it also confirms itself to us whenever what is written is fulfilled. Now lets look at the last meaning, "to bind one's self".

Jesus is the Son of God Who manifest as flesh to save us all from damnation as a result of our sins. He is also The Word as it is written in the Bible. 

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

( John 1 : 14 , KJV ) 

If Jesus has been called the Word then we can conclude that by saying so, Jesus has bound Himself to the Word of God, which is the Scriptures and by doing so He has Authorized them.... Quite interesting.

Then there is another word: 

"authorial (adj.)

"pertaining to an author," by 1783, from author (n.) + -al (1).

also from 1783"

(www.etymonline.com/word/authorial#etymonline_v_42007)

Well the Bible certainly is Authorial when considering it pertains to the Author. Still not much to go on here.... Let's see if I can find anything else:


"authoritative (adj.)

c. 1600, "dictatorial" (a sense now restricted to authoritarian), earlier auctoritative (implied in auctoritativeli "with official approval or sanction"), from Medieval Latin auctoritativus, from Latin auctoritatem (see authority).

The meaning "having due authority, entitled to credence or obedience" is from 1650s; that of "proceeding from proper authority" is from 1809. Related: Authoritatively; authoritativeness."

"Having due authority, entitled to credance or obedience" eh?

We know indeed the Word of God has Authority we've discussed that already and the words in the Bible are certainly entitled to obedience.

When looking to the latin word  "auctoritatem" we can see that the word itself is the accusative form of the word "auctoritas" which means authority. 

An exerpt regarding the accusative form:

"The accusative case is used in many languages for the objects of (some or all) prepositions. It is usually combined with the nominative case (for example in Latin)."

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusative_case)

Hmm.. Seems we went around in a circle but it did give us a lead. Let us take a look at this now:

"authoritarian (adj.)

"favoring imposed order over freedom," 1862, from authority + -an. Compare authoritative, which originally had this meaning to itself. The noun in the sense of "one advocating or practicing the principle of authority over individual freedom" is from 1859.

also from 1862"

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/authoritarian#etymonline_v_26749)

So does God prefer an imposed order over total freedom? Definitely, at least since the fall of man into sin. 

Before that there wasn't any particular imposition( that I know of atleast ) on man other than to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. 

Anyway God indeed also is authoritarian in the sense that He subjects us to His Authority(and also His Sovereignty[https://www.etymonline.com/word/sovereign]). 

God doing so isn't a bad thing, if we think about it, in doing so God is preserving individual freedoms by restricting them rather than destroying them. 

Let's say there are a random group of people without any restrictions and total freedom. Are they truly free though?

If one man decided to use his freedom to steal from another, then he would have effectively stolen the freedom of that one person to own and freely use the object that was stolen. So by incorrectly exercising those freedoms we actually would imprison ourselves into a lack of freedom. Quite an interesting thought exercise.

I digress, let us continue on etymology. Time to go back to author and take a look at its PIE(Proto-Indo-European) root. 

"*aug- (1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to increase." It forms all or part of: auction; augment; augmentative; augur; August; august; Augustus; author; authoritarian; authorize; auxiliary; auxin; eke (v.); inaugurate; nickname; waist; wax (v.1) "grow bigger or greater."

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit ojas- "strength," vaksayati "cause to grow;" Lithuanian augu, augti "to grow," aukštas "high, of superior rank;" Greek auxo "increase," auxein "to increase;" Gothic aukan "to grow, increase;" Latin augmentum "an increase, growth," augere "to increase, make big, enlarge, enrich;" Old English eacien "to increase," German wachsen, Gothic wahsjan "to grow, increase."   "
(www.etymonline.com/word/*aug-#etymonline_v_52551)

So the meanings for this root, are: to increase, to grow, to enlarge, to enrich, high/of superior rank and strength.

This is interesting because from what I learned about hebrew(limited knowledge but nonetheless), Aleph is the letter attributed to the Father. The letter itself in its original depiction seems to be a pictograph of an ox(you can find it by searching for the pheonician alphabet or go here en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_alphabet) which represents strength. So thus we can link the connection of the fact that the letter for our Father refers to strength and that the root word aug also refers to strength according to Sanskrit.

Of course the other meanings are not lost on God either, He does indeed cause things to increase, also causes things to grow, He does enlarge things aswell, He does indeed enrich and of course He is High/ of Superior Rank considering that He is the Highest.

The association of strength with God is also seen in the fact that He is Almighty (All Mighty, https://www.etymonline.com/word/almighty). 

We can also thus proceed to another word deriving from author: 

"authorship (n.)

c. 1500, "the function of being a writer," from author (n.) + -ship. The meaning "literary origination, source of something that has an author" is attested by 1808.

also from c. 1500"

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/authorship#etymonline_v_26753)

God is indeed an Author and He has Authorship of the Bible and many other Heavenly books. Then again this has been established by everything I wrote previously.

Now let's go a bit off topic and mention some other word etymologies:

"actor (n.)

late 14c., "an overseer, guardian, steward," from Latin actor "an agent or doer; a driver (of sheep, etc.)," in law, "accuser, plaintiff," also "theatrical player, orator," from past-participle stem of agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward," hence "to do, perform," also "act on stage, play the part of; plead a cause at law" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). In English from mid-15c. as "a doer, maker," also "a plaintiff at law." The sense of "one who performs in plays" is by 1580s, originally applied to both men and women. Related: Actorish; actorly; actory.

also from late 14c."

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/actor#etymonline_v_5078)

Quite interesting. We call those on the world stage "actors" and it seems they are so in more ways than one. Then again quite a bit of this excerpt is still present in modern english in terms of meaning regarding the word but it is good to read nonetheless.

It is interesting to think about the fact that God is also an actor in the sense that He is indeed an overseer, a steward and a guardian. He even fits in to the PIE root, which is ag, since He does drive all things and draws forth all things and moves things.

Now, onto the etymology of Sovereign. 

"sovereign (n.)

late 13c., soverain, "superior, ruler, master, one who is superior to or has power over another," from Old French soverain "sovereign, lord, ruler," noun use of adjective meaning "highest, supreme, chief" (see sovereign (adj.)). Specifically by c. 1300 as "a king or queen, one who exercises dominion over people, a recognized supreme ruler of a realm." Also of Church authorities and heads of orders or houses as well as local civic officials.

Middle English had a tendency to add an unetymological -t to it, as in pheasant, tyrant. The spelling also was influenced by folk-etymology association with reign. Middle English Compendium lists 38 spellings including suffereignes; Elizabeth I, who was one, spelled it seven different ways. Milton prints it sovran, as though from Italian sovrano.

The meaning "gold coin worth 22s 6d" is attested from late 15c.; the value of it changed 1817 to 1 pound. In the political writings of 17c.-18c. it often has a sense of "the populace as the source of political power, the community in its collective and legislative capacity" and can be opposed to monarch.

also from late 13c.



sovereign (adj.)

early 14c., of persons, "great, superior, supreme;" mid-14c., "having supreme power;" from Old French soverain "highest, supreme, chief," from Vulgar Latin *superanus "chief, principal" (source also of Spanish soberano, Italian soprano), from Latin super "over" (from PIE root *uper "over"). Of remedies or medicines, "potent in a high degree," from late 14c.

also from early 14c."

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/sovereign)

The latin word "supernus" offers a more specific understanding since it means: "heavenly", "celestial", "of the gods", "lofty", "above", "on the surface/upper side".

(https://www.latin-is-simple.com/en/vocabulary/adjective/8132/)

The site shows that there should be more definitions of the word but won't display them when prompted to.

Either way as we can see, supernus is definitely a reference to God, The Father Who is Highest in Heaven. Though apparently it can technically also refer to angels and those that dwell in Heaven since they are obviously as a result, heavenly.


Thanks for reading this possibly boring and potentially not well written document. Everyone is free to edit, improve and add to this providing that it mainly sticks to the topic of Christianity and adheres to Biblical principles.