Word of the Day

: May 6, 2012

validate

verb VAL-uh-dayt

What It Means

1 a : to make legally valid : ratify

b : to grant official sanction to by marking

c : to confirm the validity of (an election); also : to declare (a person) elected

2 a : to support or corroborate on a sound or authoritative basis

b : to recognize, establish, or illustrate the worthiness or legitimacy of

validate in Context

The student pointed out that these days it was easy enough to find evidence on the Internet to validate almost any conclusion.

"'There is a misinformed tendency to think that the emphasis on the exterior will dilute the importance of what lies within,' said Mr. [Charles] Pocock, referring to the Gulf’s museums. 'However, any art historian will validate that architecture is the most visible expression of a culture.'" - From an article by Vinita Bharadwaj, in the New York Times, March 20, 2012

Did You Know?

"Validate," "confirm," "corroborate," "substantiate," "verify," and "authenticate" all mean to attest to the truth or validity of something. "Validate" implies establishing validity by authoritative affirmation or factual proof ("a hypothesis validated by experiments"). "Confirm" implies the removing of doubts by an authoritative statement or indisputable fact ("evidence that confirmed the reports"). "Corroborate" suggests the strengthening of what is already partly established ("witnesses who corroborated the story"). "Substantiate" implies the offering of evidence that sustains the contention ("claims that have yet to be substantiated"). "Verify" implies the establishing of correspondence of actual facts or details with those proposed or guessed at ("statements of fact that have been verified"). "Authenticate" implies establishing genuineness by legal or official documents or expert opinion ("handwriting experts who authenticated the diaries").