Thread: Authorise vs Authorize

Is there any difference in meaning between
authorize vs authorise?

my shoot would be that one of these (-ise) is British variant of spelling, the other is American.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Is there any difference in meaning between
authorize vsauthorise?

Как говорит Лингво,
authorize(Амер.) = authorise(Брит.)
Вообще, таких слов много (которые различаются в Амер. и Брит. вариантах Англ. языка)

Brittish: "ise" - authorise, organise, moralise, fertilise, emphasise etc.

American: "ize" - authorize, organize, moralize, fertilize, emphasize etc.

It's just evidence that the British can't spell... :P
See also the "s" vs. "c" difference:
Amer.: defense, offense, etc.
Brit.: defence, offence, etc.
Actually though, although I think people use "British" it's more accurate to say something like "Commonwealth" since Canadians, Austrailians, etc. retained these spellings?

so it's the same word then without any nuances?

Originally Posted by Ramil

so it's the same word then without any nuances?

It is.

Did you know the spelling was originally -ize in English and it was the Brits who switched to -ise? However nearly all the other spelling differences where due to American changes.

Originally Posted by TATY

Did you know the spelling was originally -ize in English and it was the Brits who switched to -ise?

Why? Just to make it different?

That reminds me of the Ukranians trying hard to artificially "de-russianize" their language since 1991 (i.e. constantly inventing substitutes for words that sound alike in Russian)

Originally Posted by TATY

Did you know the spelling was originally -ize in English and it was the Brits who switched to -ise? However nearly all the other spelling differences where due to American changes.

Nope. Interesting though.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Originally Posted by TATY

Did you know the spelling was originally -ize in English and it was the Brits who switched to -ise?

Why? Just to make it different?

That reminds me of the Ukranians trying hard to artificially "de-russianize" their language since 1991 (i.e. constantly inventing substitutes for words that sound alike in Russian)

I doubt it was some political statement. More likely it was for a spelling/phonetic reason, since if they were going to "de-americanize" their language, they would actually be "de-britishizing" it...I would like to know the reason though. TATY?