Noun

Singular warrant

Plural warrants

warrant (plural warrants)

1. (obsolete) A protector or defender.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book X:

     Than for pité I made the damesell to lepe on her palferey, and I promysed her to be her waraunte and to helpe to entyre her lorde.

2. Authorization or certification; sanction, as given by a superior.
3. Something that provides assurance or confirmation; a guarantee or proof: a warrant of authenticity; a warrant for success.

   He almost gives his failings as a warrant for his greatness (Garry Wills).

4. An order that serves as authorization, especially: A voucher authorizing payment or receipt of money.
5. (law) A judicial writ authorizing an officer to make a search, seizure, or arrest or to execute a judgment.

   arrest warrant issued by Thai supreme court

6. A warrant officer.
7. A certificate of appointment given to a warrant officer.
8. (finance) An option, usually with a term at issue greater than a year, usually issued together with another security, to buy other securities of the issuer.
9. (New Zealand) A Warrant of Fitness; a document certifying that a motor vehicle meets certain standards of safety and mechanical soundness.

Derived terms

• warrant card
• death warrant

Verb

Infinitive to warrant

Third person singular warrants

Simple past warranted

Past participle warranted

Present participle warranting

to warrant (third-person singular simple present warrants, present participle warranting, simple past and past participle warranted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To protect, keep safe (from danger).
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 p. 44:

     all honest meanes for a man to warrant himselfe from evils are not onely tolerable, but commendable.

2. (transitive) To guarantee (something) to be (of a specified quality, value etc.).

   I warrant it genuine, sir.

3. (transitive) To guarantee as being true; (colloquially) to believe strongly.

   That tree is going to fall, I'll warrant.

4. (transitive) To authorize; to give (someone) warrant or sanction (to do something).

   I am warranted to search these premises fully.

5. (transitive) To justify; to give grounds for.

   Circumstances arose that warranted the use of lethal force.

Warrant has several meanings:

• Warrant (law), a form of authorization, such as
  • A writ issued by a judge.
  • A certificate issued by the defense minister appointing a warrant officer.
  • A Royal Warrant to supply goods or services
  • A Warrant card is A proof of identification used by police officers in the United Kingdom
• Warrant Officer, a class of military leaders between non-commissioned officer and commissioned officer, sometimes also commissioned.
• Warrant (of payment), an order to an official to pay someone
• Warrant (finance), a right, without obligation, to buy or sell something at an agreed price
• Payroll check, in the military and government entities, sometimes referred to as warrants that are not drawn against a deposit account.
• Governor General's Warrant a non-budgeted payment instrument in Canadian law
• In epistemology, the theory of justification deals with understanding how beliefs can be justified or warranted.
• Warrant (American band), a glam metal band from Hollywood, California
• Warrant (German band), a German speed metal band that formed in 1983.
• Warrant (town meeting), a document used to call and outline a town meeting.
• Warrant (1975 film), an Indian Hindi-language film directed by Pramod Chakravorty
• Warranty deed, A type of promise or guarantee, often given as part of a deed or contract. For example, a contract to sell a house might include a clause such as, "The seller does warrant that they are the owner of the property, and have the legal authority to sell the property under the terms of this contract."

See also: Warranty