Validation

How to spell validation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce validation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does validation mean?

1. nounThe act of checking or confirming that something is accurate, sound, or officially acceptable.
2. nounRecognition or acceptance of a person's feelings, thoughts, or worth as legitimate.

Validation in a sentence

• The software runs a validation check before saving the form.

• She sought validation from her colleagues after the difficult decision.

• The new procedure required validation from the safety committee.

• Good managers offer validation rather than constant criticism.

Where does validation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin validus, meaning 'strong, robust, or effective', which itself grew from valere, 'to be strong or to be worth something'. From validus came the medieval Latin verb validare, 'to make valid or confirm', and the noun validatio for the act of confirming. English borrowed validation in the seventeenth century, first in legal and formal settings where a document or claim was confirmed as sound. The same valere root quietly sits inside everyday relatives such as 'value', 'valiant', and even the farewell 'valedictory', all of which carry that core idea of strength or worth. Because the stem 'valid' is so familiar, the trap in spelling is really the unstressed middle vowel and the standard -ation ending rather than anything exotic.

How the word is built

• valid- (from validus: strong, effective)
• -ation (noun of action)