ratify
RAT-uh-fy
/ˈrætɪfaɪ/
To sign or give formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid.
Ratify is used almost exclusively in high-level legal, political, or organizational contexts. It represents the final, official step that makes a drafted agreement legally binding.
The story behind the word. The word ratify traces back to the Latin 'ratus', meaning 'fixed' or 'settled' (which also gave us the word 'rate'). Combined with the suffix '-fy' (from 'facere', to make), ratifying literally means 'to make something fixed or settled'. It is the final stamp that ensures an agreement cannot be easily changed.
Word relationships
- approve: Approve is a general term for thinking well of something, while ratify is the specific legal process of making it binding.
- confirm: Confirm means to establish the truth of something, while ratify means to give legal validity to a document.
- reject: Reject is to refuse to accept, while ratify is to formally accept and make valid.
- veto: Veto is an official refusal to approve a bill or joint resolution, stopping it from being ratified.
Commonly confused with
- rectify: Rectify means to put something right or correct a mistake, while ratify means to make an agreement official.
Word family
- ratification (noun): The official way of confirming something, usually by vote.
Collocations
- ratify a treaty
- vote to ratify
- formally ratify
Example sentences
- "The treaty was signed by the diplomats, but the parliament had to ratify it before it could take effect." A historical reference to the process of making a treaty legally binding.
- "The union members met on Tuesday to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement." An official organizational vote to approve a new constitution.
Memory hook
Think of a 'rat' signing a treaty with a tiny pen to make it 'rat-ified' and settled. Ratify = Make it fixed and official.
When not to use
Do not use ratify for casual agreements, like deciding where to eat dinner with friends.
Fun facts
- The US Constitution required nine of the original thirteen states to ratify it before it could become the supreme law of the land.
Also appears in
- Law → Legal Systems & Constitutions
- Law → Legislation & Lawmaking
- Law → Contracts & Agreements
- Law → Human Rights & Social Justice
- Law → International Law & Treaties
- Political Science & Governance → State Sovereignty & Statecraft
- Environmental Policy & Sustainability Economics → Climate Policy & International Agreements
- Environmental Policy & Sustainability Economics → International Environmental Accords
- Political Science & Governance → Constitutional Law & Rights
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