Ratifier

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This term signifies a party that endorses agreements, ensuring they are legally binding and recognized by all concerned parties
2. This term denotes an individual or organization that formally accepts and confirms a legal document, thereby making it enforceable and acknowledged by all relevant stakeholders
3. A person or group that officially approves a contract or treaty, giving it legal force

Etymology: The verb "ratify" came into English through Old French from Medieval Latin "ratificare," built from Latin "ratus" (fixed, settled, reckoned) and "facere" (to make), so it literally means "to make fixed." The Latin root "ratus" is the past participle of "reor," to think or judge, which is why a ratified agreement is one that has been made firm and considered valid. "Ratifier" is simply the agent noun formed by adding the English suffix "-er" to "ratify," and the suffix itself passed into Middle English from Old French "-ier," which descends from Latin "-arius," a marker of a person connected with something. The suffix was already used productively in English long before "ratify" arrived, so the noun needed no special coinage: anyone who ratifies is a ratifier.

Synonyms: endorser, approver, validator