authentic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɒˈθɛn.tɪk/ (UK); /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English autentik, borrowed from Old French autentique (“authentic, canonical”) (modern French authentique) and directly from Medieval and Late Latin authenticus,^[2][3][4] from Greek αὐθεντικός (authentikós, “original, genuine, principal”),^[3][2][5] from αὐθέντης (authéntēs, “one acting on one's own authority, master, perpetrator”),^[2][3] from αὐτός (autós), self (see auto-), and -héntēs, doer, from Proto-Indo-European *sene-, to accomplish.^[3][2] The Latin -th- was restored in the 17th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Authoritative, duly authorized, a sense now obsolete: 1340 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline;^[6][3] Barnhart first records it in 1369, in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Entitled to belief as being in accordance with fact, reliable, is from 1369,^[6] and legally valid from 1401 (obsolete).^[6] Original, first-hand, as opposed to copied, is from 1581.^[6] Hoad dates the sense actual, not imaginary, to the 15th century, and genuine, not counterfeit, to the 18th.^[4] Eighteenth-century apologists tried to distinguish genuine, by the reputed author, from authentic, true to the facts,^[3][7] but the OED says the distinction does not agree with the etymology and is not now recognized,^[3] and Trench thought Bishop Watson had missed the true force of the word.^[7] Authenticity is from 1657, and authenticate from 1653.^[2] In music, authentic performance uses period instruments and techniques.^[8]

Timeline

• 1340 – authoritative.^[6]
• 1369 – reliable, true.^[6]
• 1401 – legally valid.^[6]
• 1581 – original, first-hand.^[6]
• 1653 – authenticate.^[2]
• 1657 – authenticity.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of undisputed origin or authorship; genuine, not counterfeit or copied.
2. Conforming to fact and so worthy of trust; reliable.
3. (law) Duly executed, with all legal formalities.
4. (music) Using period instruments and techniques.
5. (music) Of a medieval mode ranging from the final to the octave above, or of a cadence from dominant to tonic.

Word family

• authentically
• authenticity
• authenticate

Related words

• author
• genuine
• auto-

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins