ratify

From Old French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratifico, from Latin ratus (“reckoned”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹætɪfaɪ/, /ˈɹætəfaɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætɪfaɪ

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, sign off on.

   Synonym: approve

   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.

• ratification
• ratifier