warrant

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Authorization or certification; a sanction, as given by a superior.
2. (countable) Something that provides assurance or confirmation; a guarantee or proof.
3. (countable) An order that serves as authorization; especially a voucher authorizing payment or receipt of money.
4. (countable) 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. (countable) A judicial writ authorizing an officer to make a search, seizure, or arrest, or to execute a judgment.
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis) Ellipsis of warrant officer.
7. (countable) Ellipsis of warrant officer.
8. (New-Zealand, countable) A document certifying that a motor vehicle meets certain standards of mechanical soundness and safety; a warrant of fitness.
9. (countable, obsolete) A defender, a protector.
10. (uncountable) Underclay in a coal mine.

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To protect, keep safe (from danger).
2. (obsolete, transitive) To give (someone) an assurance or guarantee (of something); also, with a double object: to guarantee (someone something).
3. (transitive) To guarantee (something) to be (of a specified quality, value, etc.).
4. (transitive) To guarantee as being true; (colloquial) to believe strongly.
5. (transitive) To authorize; to give (someone) sanction or warrant (to do something).
6. (transitive) To justify; to give grounds for.

Synonyms

guarantee

justify

order

ensure

assure

writ

promise

deserve

certificate

certify

vouch

insure

authorization

warranty

pledge

merit

mandate

vow

summons

power of attorney

authorize

oath

justification

guaranty

assurance

swearer

directive

sanction

warehouse certificate

license

permit

imprimatur

warehouse warrant

entitle

warrantee

written order

assignment

earn

underwrite

voucher

stock warrant

bail

approve

plight

proof

paper

licence

commission

proxy

collateral

Translations

garanzia

mandat

garanderen

garantir

garantía

asegurar

garantir

assurer

mandato

borg staan voor

waarborg

ένταλμα

waarborgen

garantie

garantir

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈwɒɹənt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: warant

Cognate with French: garant

Cognate with Old High German: werento

Inherited from Middle English: warrant

Cognate with Old French: guarantir

Cognate with French: garantir

In summary

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.