authenticate

American  

[aw-then-ti-kayt] / ɔˈθɛn tɪˌkeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• authenticates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• authenticated,
  past participle,  past
• authenticating
  present participle

1. to establish as genuine.

   Synonyms:

   substantiate, validate, confirm

2. to establish the authorship or origin of conclusively or unquestionably, chiefly by the techniques of scholarship.

   to authenticate a painting.

3. to make authoritative or valid.

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authenticate British  

/ ɔːˈθɛntɪˌkeɪt /

verb

1. to establish as genuine or valid

2. to give authority or legal validity to

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• authentication
  noun
• authenticator
  noun
• nonauthentication
  noun
• reauthenticate
  verb (used with object)
• authenticatable
  adjective
• nonauthenticated
  adjective
• self-authenticating
  adjective
• unauthenticated
  adjective
• well-authenticated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• authenticating
  present
• authenticated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• authenticate
  simple
• authenticates
  simple
• have authenticated
  perfect
• has authenticated
  perfect
• am authenticating
  progressive
• are authenticating
  progressive
• is authenticating
  progressive
• have been authenticating
  perfect progressive
• has been authenticating
  perfect progressive

Past

• authenticated
  simple
• had authenticated
  perfect
• was authenticating
  progressive
• were authenticating
  progressive
• had been authenticating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will authenticate
  simple
• will have authenticated
  perfect
• will be authenticating
  progressive
• will have been authenticating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of authenticate

First recorded in 1565–75; from Medieval Latin authenticātus “made authentic” (past participle of authenticāre ). See authentic, -ate ¹

Explanation

When you authenticate something, you establish that it’s the real thing. If you authenticate a painting, for example, you’re sure that it's an original work, not a copy. The verb authenticate came into English in the seventeenth century by way of the Latin word authenticat-, meaning “established as valid.” You’ve probably heard it to mean that a valuable item, like a diamond or a rare vase, is genuine. But not everything that has to be authenticated is worth a lot of money. For example, experts authenticate evidence in an investigation and you authenticate your identity to gain access to your email account.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

authenticate authenticates authenticated authenticating

Worse yet, these app-based ordering systems usually require a whole other login or download, forcing you to set up and authenticate an account that you’ll never use again after checkout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026

"In this study we show how to authenticate a biomarker, verifying that a signal truly comes from life rather than contamination or non-biological chemistry," Shawar adds.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2026

Companies like Beckett Grading Services and Professional Sports Authenticator, or PSA, which authenticate and grade the quality of collectible sports cards, now do the same with Pokemon cards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026

AFP was not immediately able to authenticate these soundbites.

From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026

Would it be contrary to medical ethics in the HeLa cell’s coming-of-age year to authenticate the name and let He .

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Paul’s card was graded 10 by Professional Sports Authenticators, or PSA, a third-party service that authenticates and grades trading cards and other collectibles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026

One of those companies was Quest, the maker of OneLogin software that authenticates employees logging into their work platforms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

It said firms should reassess how their IT help desk "authenticates staff members" before resetting passwords, especially senior employees with access to high-level parts of an IT network.

From BBC ● May 5, 2025

Although a fantastically informative dive that also authenticates much of the movie’s narrative, I do question a serious expose about Oppenheimer using Bill Nye as a science authority source.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

Anyway, Tolstoy authenticates himself in this novel as a past master of realism, particularly in his utterly convincing depictment of Russian soldier life.

From Prophets of Dissent : Essays on Maeterlinck, Strindberg, Nietzsche and Tolstoy by Otto Heller

BBC Verify authenticated the clips, identified the ships involved and traced the collision to waters near Singapore, with evidence suggesting it likely happened on 17 September.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Around 15 of such hats have been fully authenticated, most of them now held in museum collections, said Parich.

From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026

The next day, the open-source research outfit Bellingcat said it had authenticated a video showing a Tomahawk missile strike next to the school in Minab.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026

“But it lacks a large-scale authenticated consumer network, consumer brand and the data flywheel that a two-sided network could provide.”

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026

I kept my hunch a secret but had the manuscript authenticated by an expert.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Many people have become accustomed to using their phones at checkout, authenticating themselves with a fingerprint or their face.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

The sixth, S Pheonix Events, which also notes the receipt of an application to strike off, lists Sarah Ferguson as the person authenticating the application on behalf of the company.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

Headed into the 2024 election, every American needs to up to the challenge of authenticating the news that they use to inform how they vote.

From Salon ● May 21, 2024

“Above all else though, the program does not allow for authenticating balls in the stands because it is a chain-of-custody and witness-based program.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024

The mention of a public seal for authenticating state documents also becomes frequent in the inscriptions.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Related Words

• attest
• corroborate
• substantiate
• validate
• verify