DictionaryAI

verify

verb
USVER-i-fy/ˈvɛɹɪfaɪ/

Formsverifies, verifying, verified

3 meanings of verify

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To confirm or test that something is true or accurate.

    Auditors verify every figure in the report against the original receipts.

    She verified the witness's account by reviewing the security footage.

    Similarcheck, confirm, validate, authenticate, corroborate

    Oppositedisprove, refute

    Note

    Here the weight falls on the act of checking rather than its result. A figure being verified is under test, and the test could fail. InfoWorld in 1984 uses it of a computer file saved to cassette, rewound and verified by hand. It pairs naturally with against (verify the total against the receipts) and with that-clauses (verify that the door is locked).

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To establish the truth of something by providing proof or evidence.

    Historians verify ancient accounts using archaeological evidence.

    The lab results verified the doctor's original diagnosis.

    Similarconfirm, prove, substantiate, corroborate, validate

    Oppositedisprove, refute, contradict, invalidate

    Note

    Medieval Latin vērificāre meant "make true," built from vērus "true" and faciō "make," the same -fy found in clarify and simplify. That origin fits this sense most closely: evidence makes a claim stand as true. The object is usually a claim, account or theory, and success is built into the verb. To verify something here is to have proved it, which sets it apart from the checking sense.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To affirm something formally under oath, as in a sworn legal statement.

    Witnesses verify their depositions under oath before signing them.

    The plaintiff verified the complaint under penalty of perjury.

    Similaraffirm, attest, certify, swear

    Note

    Lawyers use the word for vouching rather than inspecting. The object is typically a pleading or other court document. Verifying it means swearing, usually by affidavit, that its contents are accurate and complete. A verified complaint therefore carries the signer's oath behind it. Unlike the checking sense, nothing is tested here; the truth is staked on the person who signs.

Practice

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Origin

From Old French verifier (modern French vérifier), from Medieval Latin vērificāre meaning "make true," formed from Latin vērus ("true") plus faciō ("do, make").