warrant

The word “warrant” means an official document issued by a court or authority giving legal permission for an action, such as an arrest or search. In plain terms, as a noun, official legal permission to do something (like search a house); as a verb, to justify or to guarantee.

“Warrant” is pronounced WO-ruhnt (/ˈwɔɹənt/ in IPA).

Here is “warrant” used in a sentence: “Police obtained a warrant before searching the property.”

Depending on how it is used, “warrant” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “warrant” comes from Anglo-Norman. From Anglo-Norman warant, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to protect" or "to guard," related to "ward.".

“Warrant” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Warrant” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: an official document issued by a court or authority giving legal permission for an action, such as an arrest or search.

A warrant is an official document from a court or authority giving legal permission for an action such as an arrest or search, while a subpoena is an order requiring a person to appear in court or produce documents. A warrant authorises officials to act, whereas a subpoena compels an individual to cooperate.

An arrest warrant gives legal permission to detain a named person, while a search warrant gives permission to enter and search a specified place for evidence. Both are court-issued documents, but one targets a person and the other targets a location.

Both can mean to provide good reasons for something, and they often overlap, as in 'this warrants action' or 'this justifies action'. 'Warrant' tends to suggest that circumstances make an action reasonable or necessary, while 'justify' often stresses defending or proving that an action is right.