rectify
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English rectifien, from Anglo-Norman rectifiier, rectefier (“to make straight”), from Medieval Latin rēctificō (“to make right”), from Latin rēctus (“straight”).
Pronunciation
editVerb
editrectify (third-person singular simple present rectifies, present participle rectifying, simple past and past participle rectified)
- (obsolete, transitive) To heal (an organ or part of the body). [14th–18th c.]
- (transitive) To restore (someone or something) to its proper condition; to straighten out, to set right. [from 16th c.]
- (transitive) To remedy or fix (an undesirable state of affairs, situation etc.). [from 15th c.]
- to rectify the crisis
- (transitive, chemistry) To purify or refine (a substance) by distillation. [from 15th c.]
- (transitive) To correct or amend (a mistake, defect etc.). [from 16th c.]
- (transitive, now rare) To correct (someone who is mistaken). [from 16th c.]
- 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.3:
- For thus their Sense informeth them, and herein their Reason cannot Rectifie them; and therefore hopelessly continuing in mistakes, they live and die in their absurdities […]
- (transitive, geodesy, historical) To adjust (a globe or sundial) to prepare for the solution of a proposed problem. [from 16th c.]
- (transitive, electronics) To convert (alternating current) into direct current. [from 19th c.]
- (transitive, mathematics) To determine the length of a curve included between two limits.
- (transitive) To produce (as factitious gin or brandy) by redistilling bad wines or strong spirits (whisky, rum, etc.) with flavourings.
Synonyms
edit- See also Thesaurus:repair
Derived terms
editDerived terms
Translations
editto heal — see heal
to restore to its proper condition
to remedy or fix
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to purify or refine by distillation
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to correct or amend something
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to correct someone who is mistaken
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geodesy: to adjust in order to prepare for the solution of a proposed problem
to convert alternating current into direct current
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Anagrams
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- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃reǵ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- en:Alcohol production