Etymologically
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verification

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌvɛɹ.ɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ˌvɛɹ.ə.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French verificacion, modern vérification,[2][3][4] or alternatively Medieval Latin vērificātiō;[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster and Klein give Middle French as the source,[5][6] Etymonline and Dictionary.com Medieval Latin.[7][8] The Latin noun is formed from vērificātus, the past participle of vērificō (“to make true”),[8][6][7] from Latin vērus (“true”) and faciō (“to make”), the source of verify.[7][6] The OED compares Italian verificazione and Portuguese verificação.[2] Middle English already had verifiaunce (“confirmation, corroboration”) (about 1400), and verifiing and the legal verifiement (both early 14th century).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of demonstrating or proving something true or legitimate by evidence or testimony; a formal assertion of truth: 1523, in a register of the bishopric of Aberdeen.[2][5] Etymonline glosses the first use as the act of confirming or establishing authenticity.[7]

Semantic evolution

From about 1541 the word also meant the demonstration of truth by facts or circumstances;[2][3] from 1603, in Florio's translation of Montaigne, the testing of a fact, statement or theory by investigation or by comparing data, now the main sense.[2][7] Johnson (1755) defined it as confirmation by argument or evidence, quoting Boyle.[9] In 1789 Arthur Young used it, after French usage, for ratification.[2] The testing of the accuracy of instruments or the quality of goods is recorded from 1832, in Babbage,[2] and the philosophical sense, the testing of a proposition by experience, associated with logical positivism, from 1932, in Schlick.[2] In law it formerly also named a short affidavit at the end of a pleading in which the pleader declared readiness to prove the assertions.[10][5]

Timeline

  • 1523 – proof of truth by evidence or testimony.[2][5]
  • c. 1541 – demonstration of truth by facts.[2]
  • 1603 – the testing of a fact or theory by investigation.[2][7]
  • 1789 – ratification, after French usage.[2]
  • 1832 – the testing of instruments or goods.[2]
  • 1932 – in philosophy, empirical testing of a proposition.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or process of checking that something is true, accurate or genuine: The bank asked for verification of her address.
  2. Evidence that proves an assertion or theory.
  3. (law) Confirmation by evidence; formerly, a short affidavit at the end of a pleading.
  4. (philosophy) The testing of a statement by empirical experience.

Word family

  • verificative
  • nonverification
  • reverification
  • verify
  • verity
  • verism
  • veritable
  • very

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins