The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition. / Someone who writes books for a living. / (obsolete, criminal law) Principal.

(chiefly US, sometimes proscribed) To create a work as its author.

(countable) A self-written biography; the story of one's own life. / (uncountable) Biographies of this kind regarded as a literary genre.

opposition to authoritarianism

A condition of absolute power. / Autocracy (absolute rule by a single person). / Sovereignty or self-government (national political independence).

Of the same origin as claimed; genuine. / Conforming to reality and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief. / (music, of a Gregorian mode) Having the final as the lowest note of the mode.

The public announcement of the sentences imposed by the Inquisition on supposed heretics. / The public execution of those sentences, often by burning at the stake.

Alternative form of auto da fe

plural of authority

The bodies that have political or administrative power and control in a particular sphere / The bodies that enforce law and order or provide a public service