corroborate

English

Etymology

First attested in the 1530s; borrowed from Latin corrōborātus (“strengthened”), perfect passive participle of corrōborō (“to support, corroborate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from con- (“together”) + rōborō (“to strengthen”), from rōbur, rōboris (“strength”). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English, otherwise archaic.

Pronunciation

verb

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɒbəɹeɪ̯t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɑbəɹeɪ̯t/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

adjective

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəˈrɒbərət/

Verb

corroborate (third-person singular simple present corroborates, present participle corroborating, simple past and past participle corroborated)

1. (transitive) To confirm or support something with additional evidence; to attest or vouch for.
   • 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:

     The concurrence of all […] corroborates the same truth.

   • 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:

     First, the fireman may be killed. Second, he may not notice the signal at all. Third, in any case he will loyally corroborate his driver and the good old jury will discount that.

2. (transitive) To make strong; to strengthen.
   • 1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:

     As any limb well and duly exercised, grows stronger, the nerves of the body are corroborated thereby.

Derived terms

• corroborable
• corroborative
• corroborator

Translations

To confirm or support with additional evidence

• Belarusian: пацвярджа́ць impf (pacvjardžácʹ), пацве́рдзіць pf (pacvjérdzicʹ)
• Bulgarian: потвърждавам (bg) (potvǎrždavam), подкрепям (bg) (podkrepjam)
• Catalan: corroborar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 佐證 / 佐证 (zh) (zuǒzhèng)

• Danish: bekræfte (da)
• Dutch: onderbouwen (nl)
• Esperanto: konfirmi (eo)
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi)
• French: corroborer (fr)
• German: bestätigen (de), untermauern (de), stützen (de), bekräftigen (de)
• Hungarian: megerősít (hu)
• Icelandic: styrkja (is)
• Irish: neartaigh le
• Italian: corroborare (it)
• Latin: corrōborō
• Lithuanian: patvirtinti (lt)
• Manx: co-niartaghey, co-niartey
• Marathi: पुष्टी देणे (puṣṭī deṇe), परिपोष करणे (paripoṣ karṇe)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bekrefte, styrke (no), underbygge

  Nynorsk: bekrefte, styrke, underbygge

• Polish: potwierdzać (pl) impf, potwierdzić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: corroborar (pt)
• Romanian: susține (ro), corobora (ro), adeveri (ro)
• Russian: подкреплять (ru) (podkrepljatʹ), подтвержда́ть (ru) (podtverždátʹ), подтверди́ть (ru) pf (podtverdítʹ)
• Slovene: podpreti
• Spanish: corroborar (es)
• Swedish: bekräfta (sv), bestyrka (sv), styrka (sv)
• Turkish: delille desteklemek
• Ukrainian: підтве́рджувати impf (pidtvérdžuvaty), підтве́рдити pf (pidtvérdyty), підкрі́плювати impf (pidkrípljuvaty), підкріпи́ти pf (pidkripýty)
• Welsh: ategu (cy)

To make strong; to strengthen

• Bulgarian: укрепвам (bg) (ukrepvam), засилвам (bg) (zasilvam)
• Italian: corroborare (it)
• Polish: umacniać (pl) impf, umocnić (pl) pf

Adjective

corroborate (comparative more corroborate, superlative most corroborate) (obsolete)

1. (as a participle) Corroborated.
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Custome and Education”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, page 131:

     There is no Truſting to the Force of Nature, nor to the Brauery of Words; except it be Corroborate by Cuſtome.

2. (as a participial adjective) Vigorous, grown strong.
   • a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, “Of the Advancement of Learning”, in James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, and Douglas Denon Heath, editors, The Works of Francis Bacon, […], volume III, London: Longman and Co.;  […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 276:

     But how unjust this traducement is (if you will reduce things from popularity of opinion to measure of reason) may appear in that we see men are more curious what they put into a new vessel than into a vessel seasoned, and what mould they lay about a young plant than about a plant corroborate; […]

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁rewdʰ- (0 c, 100 e)

Further reading

• “corroborate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “corroborate”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “corroborate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

corroborate

1. inflection of corroborare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

corroborate f pl

1. feminine plural of corroborato

Latin

Verb

corrōborāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of corrōborō

Spanish

Verb

corroborate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of corroborar combined with te