Validation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌvæl.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. The act of confirming that something is accurate, legitimate, or officially acceptable
2. The process of verifying the truthfulness, legality, or acceptability of a claim or result
3. Engaging in the assessment that affirms the correctness, authenticity, or official status of a given assertion or method

Etymology: "Validation" is built from "validate" plus the suffix "-ion", a pattern English has used for centuries to turn verbs into nouns for actions or results. The stem "validate" comes from Latin "validus", meaning strong or robust, the same root that gave English "valid" and "value." So the word's core idea is one of strength: something that stands up to scrutiny is sound. The noun itself was borrowed from Middle French "validation", which passed the Latin root along in a form that already meant making something legally or formally sound. English speakers used the term mainly in legal and official contexts, where confirming that a document or claim was legitimate mattered most. Over time the meaning widened from formal approval of documents to checking anything for accuracy, such as testing a scientific result or confirming that a piece of software works as intended. The modern sense of confirming that something is correct or acceptable grew directly out of that older legal use.

Synonyms: verification, confirmation, authentication, substantiation, ratification

Antonyms: invalidity, refutation, disapproval