vérification

Forms

vérification f (plural vérifications)^[1] Middle French spellings include verificacion and verifficacion.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from French vérifier + -ation.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary instead treats the Middle French word as borrowed from Latin vērificātiō.^[1] The verb is from Late Latin vērificō, formed from vērus (“true”) and faciō (“to make”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1388, in a document of the reign of Charles VI, for the registration of an act by the parlement or a court of law, a sense now obsolete.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Around 1390 the word could mean “proof”; from the 15th century it took its general sense of examining whether something is accurate, found in Evrart de Conti's translation of the Aristotelian Problems.^[5][2] La Noue's la verification de mon dire (1587) shows it in ordinary prose.^[7][3]

Specialized uses followed: the checking of handwriting (1680), vérification des pouvoirs for the scrutiny of a representative's credentials (Mirabeau, 1789), the checking of instruments (1797), of goods and stocks (1833) and of accounts (1846).^[2][5] In the sciences (1851) it is an observation that confirms a law reached by induction; since 1921 it can also mean the fact of proving true.^[2][5] Littré still records the old legal sense of the registration of a royal edict by the parlement.^[7]

Timeline

• 1388 – First record, for the registration of an act by a court or parlement.^[2][5]
• 15th century – Evrart de Conti uses it for checking whether something is accurate.^[2]
• 1587 – La Noue writes la verification de mon dire.^[7][6]
• 1680 – Richelet records the checking of a piece of writing.^[2]
• 1789 – Mirabeau uses vérification des pouvoirs.^[2][5]
• 1797 – It is used for the checking of instruments.^[2]
• 1851 – Cournot uses it for the confirmation of a scientific theory.^[2]
• 1921 – Jules Romains uses it for the fact of proving true.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of checking or verifying something, an operation by which it is checked: la vérification des billets à l'entrée.^[8][2]
2. Vérification des pouvoirs: the scrutiny of an elected representative's credentials.^[2][7]
3. (law) Vérification d'écritures: a procedure to establish whether a private document or signature is by the person to whom it is ascribed.^[7][8]
4. Vérification des poids et mesures: the official inspection of weights and measures.^[7][2]
5. (science) An observation or experiment that confirms a theory.^[2]
6. The fact of proving true.^[2][5]
7. (obsolete) The registration of an edict by a parlement.^[7]

Word family

• vérificatif

Related words

• vérifier
• vérificateur
• vérifiable
• Latin vērificō

Usage notes

Littré notes the older synonym verifiement.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert