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

• nonratifying
• ratifiable
• ratifier
• reratify

Related terms

• ratification

Translations

give formal consent to

• Belarusian: ратыфікава́ць impf or pf (ratyfikavácʹ)
• Bulgarian: утвърждавам (utvărždavam), ратифицирам (bg) (ratificiram)
• Cebuano: uyon
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 批准 (zh) (pīzhǔn)

• Czech: ratifikovat
• Danish: ratificere (da)
• Dutch: bekrachtigen (nl), ratificeren (nl)
• Esperanto: ratifi
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), ratifioida
• French: ratifier (fr)
• German: bestätigen (de), ratifizieren (de) (treaty)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: κυρόω (kuróō)

• Hebrew: אשרר (ishrér)
• Hungarian: ratifikál (hu)
• Icelandic: staðfesta (is)
• Irish: daingnigh
• Italian: ratificare (it)
• Japanese: 批准する (ja) (ひじゅんする, hijun suru)
• Latin: ratihabeō
• Latvian: ratificēt
• Manx: shickyree
• Māori: whakamana, whakapūmau
• Polish: ratyfikować (pl), zatwierdzać (pl) impf, zatwierdzić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ratificar (pt)
• Romanian: ratifica (ro)
• Russian: ратифици́ровать (ru) impf or pf (ratificírovatʹ), утвержда́ть (ru) impf or pf (utverždátʹ), утверди́ть (ru) pf (utverdítʹ), одобря́ть (ru) impf (odobrjátʹ), одо́брить (ru) pf (odóbritʹ)
• Spanish: ratificar (es)
• Swedish: ratificera (sv), stadfästa (sv), bekräfta (sv)
• Thai: ให้สัตยาบัน (hâi-sàt-dtà-yaa-ban)
• Turkish: onaylamak (tr)
• Ukrainian: ратифікува́ти impf or pf (ratyfikuváty)