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Is there a good couple-/few-word phrase to express the idea that an actor's intendended purpose is to determine whether an action is permitted/approved/authorized versus denied/disapproved/rejected? I'll note that I'm subtly not talking about the actual approval/rejection itself, but rather the determination of which end action to take.

At the moment, I'm clunkily describing this as "determine permission", but that feels inaccurate because one might determine that something is not permitted.

An example would be "This committee will review the application, and send a judgement of whether a member's request should be approved or denied to the appropriate administrator; its members alone [determine permission] for requests."

Note: I am actually using this as the name for a function in code, so unfortunately I am unable to get creative with rephrasing in order to circumvent the problem.

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I would say assess permissibility.

To assess means to evaluate the ability of someone/something to be/do something:

to make a decision about a person or situation after considering all the information:

  • The consultant was hired to assess the impact of the buyout on consumers. (Cambridge)

Permissibility is defined by FreeDictionary as meaning:

admissibility as a consequence of being permitted.

So your context would be:

This committee will review the application, and send a judgement of whether a member's request should be approved or denied to the appropriate administrator; its members alone assess permissibility for (I would also suggest of) requests.

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From the question:

At the moment, I'm clunkily describing this as "determine permission", but that feels inaccurate because one might determine that something is not permitted.

If you only want to ascertain the one state, then, changing the suggested phrase as little as possible, try the following:

verify permission:

[Merriam-Webster]
// 1 : to establish the truth, accuracy, or reality of
// verify the claim


I will note, however, that the wording used in the actual example sentence is slightly awkward, because, in that context, the original determine does seem like the best fit—with a slight rephrasing:

Its members alone determine the application's approval or denial.

It's not the members who would verify a particular state. All they do is make a decision.

Additionally note that requests aren't said to have permission or not. People and actions are given permission, not requests. Requests are only approved or denied.


A more natural sentence, based on the same scenario, would be something like this:

✔ Contact the committee secretary, who will verify if you have been given permission [to …]


However, that aside, verify is the more accurate verb for checking or confirming the state of something specific.

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  • But the people who *verify^ can also refuse to verify. It seems to me the question seeks something that includes both possibilities. My own thought is that a word like "adjudge" or "consider" is needed somewhere - perhaps "adjudge/consider permission" is the phrase.
    – WS2
    Mar 25, 2021 at 8:20
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Provide ratification should work.
You could also try 'allow'/'authorise for'/'provide authorisation for'.
Hope it helps

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  • Is RATIFY an option?
    – Ram Pillai
    Nov 25, 2020 at 7:46
  • @RamPillai "Ratify" means to "confirm", which i would not have thought was whhat the questioner is asking.
    – WS2
    Mar 25, 2021 at 8:15

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