ratify

English

WOTD – 14 July 2007

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁-
Proto-Italic *rēōr
Latin reor
Latin ratus
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.
Proto-Italic *θakos
Proto-Italic *-fakos
Latin -ficus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
Proto-Italic *-ājō
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin -ficō
Medieval Latin ratifico
Old French ratifierbor.
Middle English ratifien
English ratify

    From Middle English ratifien, from Old French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratifico, from Latin ratus (“reckoned”).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈɹætɪfaɪ/, /ˈɹætəfaɪ/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Audio (Australia):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ætɪfaɪ

    Verb

    ratify (third-person singular simple present ratifies, present participle ratifying, simple past and past participle ratified)

    1. (transitive) To give formal consent to; make officially valid, to sign off on.
      Synonyms: approve, confirm, homologate
      They ratified the treaty.
      • 1912, Noah Ablett, The Miners' Next Step:
        Thus the workmen decide the principle, the Executive carry it out. The agent provides information and negotiates. The Conference finally ratifies or disapproves.
      • 1950, William H. Fitzpatrick, Government by Treaty:
        If the Senate ratifies the covenant on human rights and the Supreme Court upholds it under the established principles outlined above, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of peaceful assembly may be destroyed by our own Government at any time by an official proclamation of a state of emergency.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.