A Warrant Authorises; a Warranty Promises
A warrant is official authorisation. A warranty is a promise about goods, and the two words come from the same root.
A warrant is a document authorising an official act — a search, an arrest, a payment. Its close relative *warranty* is a promise that goods will perform as described. Both come from an Old North French word meaning to guarantee, and *guarantee* itself is the same word arriving by a different route.
- Official authorisation. *An arrest warrant.*
- Justification. *There is no warrant for that claim.*
- To justify. *The results warrant further study.*
- Warranty — a promise about goods. *A two-year warranty.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | warrant | A search warrant. |
| Plural | warrants | Outstanding warrants. |
| Verb | warrant | It warrants attention. |
| Noun | warranty | Under warranty. |
| Related | guarantee | A money-back guarantee. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Officers arrived with a warrant.Legal authority.
- The findings warrant a second look.Justify.
- The repair is covered by the warranty.Consumer goods.
Kinds of warrant
- Search warrant — authorises entry and search
- Arrest warrant — authorises detention
- Bench warrant — issued by a court for failure to appear
- Royal warrant — permission to supply the royal household
- Warrant officer — a rank between commissioned and non-commissioned
From Old North French *warant*, a guarantee, from a Germanic root. The Central French form of the same word gave English *guarantee*, which is why the pair look so different.
Warranty or guarantee?
In everyday use they overlap. A warranty is usually the written terms of a promise about goods; a guarantee is often the promise itself, and may be broader.
Are warrant and guarantee the same word?
Yes, arriving through different French dialects. The w and gu spellings mark the two routes, as in warden and guardian.