ratified
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
- unratified adjective
Etymology
Origin of ratified
Explanation
If something is considered ratified, it has been officially approved. When a constitutional amendment is voted into law, it is said to be ratified, or formally accepted. The first known use of ratified in English occurred in the 14th Century. It comes from the Medieval Latin ratificāre, which meant "to confirm or approve." The word ratified is somewhat formal, and is officially used in government proceedings or for contracts or treaties. Still, the idea of something being confirmed or endorsed carries through in Viennese Editor Henry Anatole Grunwald's observation that "Home is one's birthplace, ratified by memory."
Vocabulary lists containing ratified
Vocabulary from the Constitution of the United States
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Dear Martin
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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their deals still need to be ratified by union members.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
Space Force, the made-up military branch he ratified in 2019, which he called “my baby” that is becoming “so important.”
From Salon • Apr. 7, 2026
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, begins: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The deal involves the four founding members of the South American trade bloc, and has already been ratified by Argentina and Uruguay.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
The Continental Congress wrote the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, two years before the Constitution was ratified.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
