rectify
[rek-tuh-fahy]
- to make, put, or set right; remedy; correct: He sent them a check to rectify his account.
- to put right by adjustment or calculation, as an instrument or a course at sea.
- Chemistry. to purify (especially a spirit or liquor) by repeated distillation.
- Electricity. to change (an alternating current) into a direct current.
- to determine the length of (a curve).
- Astronomy, Geography. to adjust (a globe) for the solution of any proposed problem.
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Origin of rectify
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
amendfixremedyredressimproverepairrightscrubdoctorreformlaunderdebugadjustsquaremendemendreviserecalibrateExamples from the Web for rectified
Contemporary Examples
In most cases that, too, has been rectified—with the exception of Michael Douglas, who is one silver-haired fox.
A lot of their injuries—particularly the people shot in the eyes—could have been rectified.
Historical Examples
Some of it may have to be rectified, as they term it, and that will cause delay.
David Lannarck, MidgetGeorge S. Harney
My dear father, do not let this mistake affect you too deeply; it will easily be rectified.
Fairy FingersAnna Cora Mowatt Ritchie
Molineux and Birge were too far to the front, and the line must be rectified.
Lights and Shadows in Confederate PrisonsHomer B. Sprague
I rectified the error, and he entered the information in a book.
But if they have, the sooner the evil is rectified the better.
rectify
- to put right; correct; remedy
- to separate (a substance) from a mixture or refine (a substance) by fractional distillation
- to convert (alternating current) into direct current
- maths to determine the length of (a curve)
- to cause (an object) to assume a linear motion or characteristic
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Word Origin
C14: via Old French from Medieval Latin rectificāre to adjust, from Latin rectus straight + facere to make
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for rectified
rectify
v.
c.1400, from Old French rectifier, literally "to make straight" (14c.), from Late Latin rectificare "make right," from Latin rectus "straight" (see right (adj.1)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Related: Rectified; rectifying.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
rectify
(rĕk′tə-fī′)- To set right; correct.
- To refine or purify, especially by distillation.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.