rectify

English

Etymology

From Middle English rectifien, from Anglo-Norman rectifiier, rectefier (“to make straight”), from Medieval Latin rēctificō (“to make right”), from Latin rēctus (“straight”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛktəˌfaɪ/
Audio (UK) (file)

Verb

rectify (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

See also Thesaurus:repair

Derived terms

rectifiable
rectifiably
rectification
rectified spirit
rectifier

Translations

to heal — see heal

to restore to its proper condition

Bulgarian: поправям (bg) (popravjam)
Finnish: korjata (fi)
Greek:
Ancient: κατορθόω (katorthóō)
Italian: sanare (it)
Maori: whakamana

to remedy or fix

Bulgarian: поправям (bg) (popravjam)
Finnish: korjata (fi)
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (garaihtjan)
Italian: rimediare (it), regolarizzare (it)
Maori: whakatika, whakamaene
Persian: درست کردن‎ (fa) (dorost kardan)

to purify or refine by distillation

Bulgarian: пречиствам (bg) (prečistvam), рафинирам (bg) (rafiniram)
Finnish: tislata (fi), puhdistaa (fi)
German: destillieren (de)
Italian: distillare (it)
Polish: destylować (pl) impf
Russian: очищать (ru) impf (očiščatʹ), дистиллировать (ru) impf (distillirovatʹ), ректифицировать (ru) impf (rektificirovatʹ)
Turkish: damıtmak (tr), arıtmak (tr)
Ukrainian: очища́ти impf (očyščáty), очи́стити pf (očýstyty)

to correct or amend something

Azerbaijani: düzəltmək (az)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 糾正／纠正 (zh) (jiūzhèng), 整頓／整顿 (zh) (zhěngdùn)
Dutch: herzien (nl), corrigeren (nl), rectificeren (nl), rechtzetten (nl), amenderen (nl), amelioreren
Finnish: oikaista (fi), korjata (fi)
French: rectifier (fr)
Galician: rectificar
German: korrigieren (de)
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (garaihtjan)
Irish: ceartaigh
Italian: rettificare (it)
Japanese: 正す (ja) (ただす, tadasu)
Maori: whakamaene
Persian: درست کردن‎ (fa) (dorost kardan)
Polish: poprawiać (pl) impf, poprawić (pl) pf
Portuguese: retificar (pt)
Romanian: rectifica (ro), corecta (ro)
Russian: исправля́ть (ru) impf (ispravljátʹ), испра́вить (ru) pf (isprávitʹ)
Spanish: rectificar (es), subsanar (es)
Swedish: korrigera (sv)
Turkish: düzeltmek (tr)

to correct someone who is mistaken

Finnish: korjata (fi)
Italian: correggere (it)

geodesy: to adjust in order to prepare for the solution of a proposed problem

to convert alternating current into direct current

Bulgarian: изправям (bg) (izpravjam)
Finnish: tasasuunnata (fi)
Italian: rettificare (it), raddrizzare (it)
Polish: prostować (pl) impf
Russian: выпрямлять (ru) impf (vyprjamljatʹ)
Swedish: likrikta (sv)

to produce by redistilling with flavourings

Finnish: tislata (fi)

Anagrams

certify, cretify