Adjacent Words

Ratify definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RAT'IFY, v.t. [L. ratum facio, to make firm.]
1. To confirm; to establish; to settle.
We have ratified to them the borders of Judea.
2. To approve and sanction; to make valid; as, to ratify an agreement or treaty.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation; "All parties ratified the peace treaty"; "Have you signed your contract yet?" [syn: sign, ratify]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-fied; -fying) Etymology: Middle English ratifien, from Anglo-French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratificare, from Latin ratus determined, from past participle of reri to calculate — more at reason Date: 14th century to approve and sanction formally ; confirm <ratify a treaty> • ratification noun • ratifier noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (-ies, -ied) confirm or accept (an agreement made in one's name) by formal consent, signature, etc. Derivatives: ratifiable adj. ratification n. ratifier n. Etymology: ME f. OF ratifier f. med.L ratificare (as RATE(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ratify Rat"i*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ratified; p. pr. & vb. n. Ratifying.] [F. ratifier, fr. L. ratus fixed by calculation, firm, valid + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Rate, n., and -fy.] To approve and sanction; to make valid; to establish; to settle; especially, to give sanction to, as something done by an agent or servant; as, to ratify an agreement, treaty, or contract; to ratify a nomination. It is impossible for the divine power to set a seal to a lie by ratifying an imposture with such a miracle. --South.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ratifies, ratifying, ratified) When national leaders or organizations ratify a treaty or written agreement, they make it official by giving their formal approval to it, usually by signing it or voting for it. The parliaments of Australia and Indonesia have yet to ratify the treaty. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Confirm, substantiate, seal, corroborate, establish, settle. 2. Approve, sanction, bind, consent to, make valid.

Moby Thesaurus

OK, accede to, accept, accord to, accredit, adopt, affiliate, affirm, agree to, amen, approve, approve of, assent, attest, authenticate, authorize, autograph, back, back up, be willing, bear out, bolster, buttress, carry, certificate, certify, charter, circumstantiate, clinch, commission, condescend, confirm, connive at, consent, consent to silently, corroborate, cosign, countersign, deign, document, embrace, empower, enable, endorse, enfranchise, ensure, entitle, espouse, establish, fortify, franchise, give consent, give official sanction, give permission, give power, give the go-ahead, give the imprimatur, give thumbs up, go along with, go in for, grant, guarantee, have no objection, hold with, initial, legalize, legitimize, license, nod, nod assent, not refuse, notarize, okay, pass, pass on, pass upon, patent, permit, privilege, probate, prove, reinforce, rubber stamp, sanction, say amen to, say aye, say yes, seal, second, settle, sign, sign and seal, strengthen, subscribe to, substantiate, support, sustain, swear and affirm, swear to, take kindly to, take up, undergird, undersign, underwrite, uphold, validate, verify, visa, vise, vote affirmatively, vote aye, warrant, wink at, yield assent