Ratification

How to spell ratification

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce ratification

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ratification mean?

1. nounThe formal act of approving or confirming an agreement, treaty, or document to make it legally valid.

Ratification in a sentence

• The treaty takes effect only after formal ratification by all member states.

• The board scheduled a vote for the ratification of the new partnership contract.

Where does ratification come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb ratificare, which meant 'to confirm' or 'to make valid', formed from ratus, meaning 'fixed, settled, or reckoned', and facere, meaning 'to make'. The element ratus was itself the past participle of reri, 'to reckon or think', so to ratify something was literally to make it settled and reckoned as binding. English borrowed the noun through Old French ratification during the late 1400s, when it was used for the formal approval that gave legal force to an agreement. The same ratus root survives in the modern word 'rate', because reckoning an amount and settling a value come from the same idea of fixing things. When spelling it, the tricky stretch is the unstressed middle, where the schwa sounds invite a wrong vowel; remembering the buried word 'ratify' helps anchor the central letters.

How the word is built

• rat- (from ratus: fixed, settled)
• -ific- (from facere: to make)
• -ation (noun of action)