Meanings
present singular third person ratifies · participle present ratifying · participle past ratified · past ratified
- transitiveTo give formal consent to; make officially valid, to sign off on.
They ratified the treaty.
2 more examples
Thus the workmen decide the principle, the Executive carry it out. The agent provides information and negotiates. The Conference finally ratifies or disapproves.
1912, Noah Ablett, The Miners' Next StepIf 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.
1950, William H. Fitzpatrick, Government by TreatySynonyms: approve, confirm, homologate
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo give formal consent to; make officially valid, to sign off on.
More synonyms by meaning
verbapprove and express assent, responsibility, or obligation
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂reh₁-
- Proto-Italic*rēōr
- Latinreor
- Latinratus
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
- Proto-Italic*θakos
- Medieval Latinratifico
- Old Frenchratifier
- Middle Englishratifien
- Englishratify
From Middle English ratifien, from Old French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratifico, from Latin ratus (“reckoned”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κυρόω
- κυρόω (kuróō)give formal consent to
Bulgarian утвърждавам, ратифицирам
- утвърждавам (utvărždavam)give formal consent to
- ратифицирам (ratificiram)give formal consent to
Chinese Mandarin 批准
- 批准 (pīzhǔn)give formal consent to
Czech ratifikovat
- ratifikovatgive formal consent to
Danish ratificere
- ratificeregive formal consent to
Dutch bekrachtigen, ratificeren
- bekrachtigengive formal consent to
- ratificerengive formal consent to
Esperanto ratifi
- ratifigive formal consent to
Finnish vahvistaa, ratifioida
- vahvistaagive formal consent to
- ratifioidagive formal consent to
French ratifier
- ratifiergive formal consent to
German bestätigen, ratifizieren
- bestätigengive formal consent to
- ratifizierengive formal consent to
Hebrew אשרר
- אשרר (ishrér)give formal consent to
Hungarian ratifikál
- ratifikálgive formal consent to
Icelandic staðfesta
- staðfestagive formal consent to
Irish daingnigh
- daingnighgive formal consent to
Italian ratificare
- ratificaregive formal consent to
Japanese 批准する
- 批准する (hijun suru)give formal consent to
Latin ratihabeō
- ratihabeōgive formal consent to
Latvian ratificēt
- ratificētgive formal consent to
Māori whakamana, whakapūmau
- whakamanagive formal consent to
- whakapūmaugive formal consent to
Polish ratyfikować, zatwierdzać
- ratyfikowaćgive formal consent to
- zatwierdzaćgive formal consent to
- zatwierdzićgive formal consent to
Portuguese ratificar
- ratificargive formal consent to
Romanian ratifica
- ratificagive formal consent to
Russian ратифици́ровать, утвержда́ть
- ратифици́ровать (ratificírovatʹ)give formal consent to
- утвержда́ть (utverždátʹ)give formal consent to
- утверди́ть (utverdítʹ)give formal consent to
- одобря́ть (odobrjátʹ)give formal consent to
- одо́брить (odóbritʹ)give formal consent to
Spanish ratificar
- ratificargive formal consent to
Swedish ratificera, stadfästa
- ratificeragive formal consent to
- stadfästagive formal consent to
- bekräftagive formal consent to
Thai ให้สัตยาบัน
- ให้สัตยาบัน (hâi-sàt-dtà-yaa-ban)give formal consent to
Turkish onaylamak
- onaylamakgive formal consent to
Ukrainian ратифікува́ти
- ратифікува́ти (ratyfikuváty)give formal consent to
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ratify
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ratify. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ratify
“ratify.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ratify. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ratify,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ratify.
Source: ratify on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.