verify

Definitions

ver (true) + -fy (from facere, 'to make') = 'to make true.' But you don't actually make something true — you establish that it already is. So verify means 'to confirm as true': you check a claim, an identity, or a number against evidence and certify that it holds up.

Why It Means This

Worth noticing what verify presumes: that there is an objective fact to check against. You verify data, identities, and claims — things that are either true or false. You don't 'verify' an opinion or a feeling, because there's nothing to confirm them against. That hidden assumption is why verify lives so naturally in security, science, and journalism.

Common Collocations

• 1.verify your identity验证身份
• 2.verify the facts核实事实
• 3.verify a claim证实说法
• 4.independently verify独立核实
• 5.verify that证实……

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Please verify your email address before you can log in.

• 2.

  Reporters spent weeks trying to verify the leaked documents.

• 3.

  I couldn't verify whether the rumor was actually true.

Easily Confused

verify vs confirm — both mean 'establish as true,' but verify implies actively checking against evidence (verify a signature, verify the data), while confirm often just means 'state again that it's so' or 'make official' (confirm your booking, confirm an appointment). You confirm something you already arranged; you verify something you doubt.