authorities (root: authority)

• POS: Noun Plural
• COUNT in NET: 15 in 14 verses (in OT : 3 in 3 verses) (in NT : 12 in 11 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

authorities, n. 

 the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit.  [WordNet 1.5]

THESAURUS

authorities

John Bull, Uncle Sam, Washington, Whitehall, bureaucracy, directorate, hierarchy, higher echelons, higher-ups, management, ministry, officialdom, prelacy, ruling class, ruling classes, the Crown, the Establishment, the administration, the authorities, the government, the ingroup, the interests, the people upstairs, the power elite, the power structure, the top, them, they, top brass