rectificationn.
/ˌrɛktᵻfᵻˈkeɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌrɛktəfəˈkeɪʃən/ 1.
a. The action of setting right, restoring to a normal or proper condition, or freeing from defects, imperfections, or errors; correction; amendment, improvement; an instance of this. Formerly also: †healing; a cure (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > amending > [noun]
rightingOE
mendmentc1300
amendment1340
correction1340
amendinga1382
mendinga1400
rectificationa1400
mendnessa1425
redress1448
addressment1481
redressa1529
remedying1547
redub1549
restauration1560
correcting1580
rightening1583
emendation1586
restitution1636
cure1675
reform1700
readjustment1749
remediation1794
redressal1800
redressment1822
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 153 (MED) Bi þis medicyn þer comeþ a rectificacioun to þe nucha.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 384 (MED) Þe curatyf rule..haþ foure entenciouns..The þridde is rectificacioun, i. amendynge of þe impressioun þat is made.
a1500 (a1475) G. Ashby Dicta Philosophorum 491 in Poems (1899) 64 (MED) The most grettest Rectificacion Ys, from evel thinges to directe a kinge.
1562 W. Bullein Dial. Sorenes f. 27, in Bulwarke of Defence We shal easely know the correction of vlcers, whych thing (as we take it) consisteth in knowlege of the causes, rectificacion of complexions, and comfortyng of members.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. ii. i. i. 305 They haue done more cures in this kind by rectification of Diet, then all other Physick.
1651 C. Cartwright Certamen Religiosum i. 119 For though rectification be not errour, yet it doth presuppose Errour.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ 48 (margin) Rectification of the Feeder.
1765 W. Warburton Divine Legation Moses (ed. 4) IV. v. App. If his Lordship by the present state of things, includes the rectification of them in a future state [etc.].
1808 S. Smith in Wks. (1859) I. 98/1 That they must bear this patiently, and look to another world for its rectification.
1882 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. (1892) IV. xvi. 355 A few slight rectifications of territory were at the same time made.
1891 Law Rep.: Weekly Notes 28 Mar. 58/2 Such mistake is not capable of rectification as between ordinary adverse litigants.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 36/2 War followed, in which Turkey was easily successful and gained a small rectification of frontier.
1950 S. Potter Our Lang. 186 Ward is more concerned with phoniatry and the rectification of faulty pronunciation in the speech of English children.
1997 Liverpool Echo 18 Sept. 55/3 (advt.) You must have considerable experience in all aspects of installation, maintenance and annual servicing, including electrical fault finding and rectification on either domestic or commercial/heating systems and boilers.
b. The correct orientation of a globe to facilitate an astronomical calculation for a particular place, or to assist in visualizing the disposition of the heavens in relation to the celestial equator, the ecliptic, etc. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > representational device > [noun] > globe, sphere > adjustment of
rectificationa1646
a1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1649) 286 This is called Rectification, or right setting of the Globe.
1701 R. Holland Globe Notes 19 To rectify for the Suns place, is 7. After the former rectification, to bring the Suns place in the Ecliptick, to the Meridian, turning up the Index of the hour wheel to 12 at noon.
1766 G. Adams Treat. New Celestial & Terrestr. Globes 234 This rectification of the globe, is only placing it in such a manner that the principal great circles, and points, may concur and fall in with those of the heavens.
1811 T. Keith New Treat. Use of Globes (ed. 2) iii. i. 194 Our globes, till of late years, were equipt with an hour circle, which prevented the poles from sliding through the horizon; hence their rectification was generally for the place on the earth, instead of the sun's place in the ecliptic.
1905 R. W. Willson Lab. Astron. viii. 114 (heading) Problems which do not require rectification of the globe.
c. Astrology. The process of ascertaining an unknown time of birth by calculations based on known times of major events in a person's life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > astrology > judicial astrology > horoscope > [noun] > nativity > casting of > adjustment
rectification1670
1670 Mem. Monsieur Du Vall 1 Claude Du Vall was born Anno 1643..: at the time of his Birth (as we have since found by Rectification of his Nativity by Accidents) there was a Conjunction of Venus and Mercury.
1671 J. Dryden Evening's Love ii. 24 What think you..of the best way of rectification for a Nativity?
1784 E. Sibly New & Compl. Illustr. Astrol. (new ed.) ii. 421 Since nothing can be predicted in astrology without..the true time of birth, various methods have been invented..for ascertaining this point with precision... And this is termed the rectification of nativities.
1798 J. Worsdale Genethliacal Astrol. (ed. 2) 162 I am very confident, the common Method of Rectification will not avail, until the true Sign, which ought to ascend the oriental Horizon, be perfectly known.
1861 ‘Zadkiel’ Hand-bk. Astrol. I. 107 Rectification, the discovery of the true moment of the birth by comparing the periods of events in life with the aspects which produce them.
c1930 R. DeLuce (title) Rectification of the Horoscope.
1985 M. E. Coleman How to Astro-analyze Yourself 10 [The Ascendant] cannot be mathematically calculated unless the actual birthtime is known or determined by a complex method called ‘rectification’.
1991 C. Mansall Discover Astrol. ii. 20/2 Without a correct birth time, an astrologer must resort to a process of rectification which can involve hours and, sometimes, days of calculations and comparisons with important events in the life.
d. The process of producing a plan view from an aerial photograph taken at an oblique angle by correcting errors of perspective.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > photographic processes > [noun] > treatment of aerial photographs
rectification1919
1919 Geogr. Jrnl. 53 Pl. preceding p. 385 (caption) Enlarging lantern and tilting copying board for rectification of air photographs.
1944 P. G. McCurdy et al. Man. Photogrammetry ii. 54 Optical rectification is the process of projecting the image of a tilted photograph into a horizontal plane.
1968 Times 1 Nov. 6/8 A process known as rectification is already standard practice. This is an automatic method of giving correct positions in plan to elevated features such as hills.
1995 R. M. Sumerall & F. T. Lloyd in M. B. Edwards Proc. 8th Biennial Southern Silvicultural Res. Conf. 39 Once these points on the photograph are associated with some geographic coordinate system, an image can be transformed either a through rubber-sheeting rectification process or through differential rectification.
e. Politics. Originally and chiefly with reference to the policies of the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong: the correction of (perceived) errors of ideology and practice by means of an official campaign or policy by a government or party; an instance of this. Usually attributive in rectification campaign, rectification drive, rectification movement, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > politics in India and Far East > [noun] > Chinese politics > principles or policies
Tai-pingism1860
Boxerism1900
reform through labour1913
Sun Yat-senism1925
Maoism1950
rectification1956
Great Leap Forward1958
1953 tr. Mao Zedong (title) On the rectification [Chinese jiūzhèng] of incorrect ideas in the Party.]
1956 tr. Sel. Wks. Mao Tse-Tung IV. 111 In the rectification campaign of 1943 all bureaux..of the Central Committee of the Party, all regional and district Party Committees should..endeavour to gain experience.
1959 New Statesman 17 Jan. 64/3 We make sure that..any professor or student who needs rectification is encouraged to volunteer for three or four weeks of unskilled labour in the steel works.
1962 E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) xlvii. 376 It was the opening shot of an official ‘rectification’ or cheng-tung tso-feng movement.
1968 Asian Surv. 8 4 Mao has sought ever since the Yenan rectification..to control his Party through such devices as self-criticism, mutual supervision..thought reform..and internal criticism of upper ranks by lower ones.
1971 J. J. Taylor in D. J. Dwyer China Now (1974) xxii. 425 The Cultural Revolution is to the international united front what the rectification drives within the CCP in 1941 and 1942 were to the anti-Japanese front in China: an effort to maintain purity and fervour in the revolutionary nucleus.
1991 Internat. Affairs 67 275 Castro has made no secret of his implacable opposition to perestroika. He demonstrated his opposition to it in 1986 by adopting a Rectification Programme which increased centralization and abolished existing market mechanisms in Cuba.
2005 New Statesman (Nexis) 13 June [Yenan] remains the crucible of Maoism: it was there that Mao devised his first rectification project.
2. Chemistry. The purification or refinement of a substance by distillation, esp. repeated or continuous distillation, or by other chemical treatment; an instance of this. Formerly also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > distillation
distillation1393
stilling1477
rectificationa1500
distilling1527
circulating1545
circulation1587
cohobation1605
abstraction1617
redistillation1639
cohobating1654
distillery1677
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 2430 (MED) Such circulacion Is but oonly a Rectificacion.
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 53 A blynd limbek is that which hath no..limbe or hembe which serueth for preparation and rectification or circulation, that is, perfection.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. ii. iii. 331 To this cure of melancholy..this Rectification of Aire is necessarily required.
1668 R. Boyle Ess. & Tracts (1669) 65 We dephlegmated some [spirits] by more frequent, and indeed tedious Rectifications.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iv. ii. 298 This portion of the lower World seems to be the whole residue of the visible Chaotical Mass, which by the former Rectification was reduced to a small portion, like the Caput Mortuum after Distillation.
1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs I. 56 The Oil of Sugar that remains after Rectification.
1787 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 77 267 The acid obtained from vitriol,..deprived by rectification of its smoking quality.
1824 Ann. Philos. New Ser. 8 69 Pyroxylic spirit..is obtained during the rectification of pyrolignous acid.
1876 J. Harley Royle's Man. Materia Med. (ed. 6) 354 The oily liquid separates, which is purified by rectification.
1934 C. C. Steele Introd. Plant Biochem. ii. iii. 26 Traces of n-propyl, n-butyl, and amyl..alcohols are always found in the still-residue (fusel oil) from the rectification of ethyl alcohol.
1989 Hydrocarbon Processing Nov. 106/2 The superazeotropic acid is stripped..by secondary air to remove nitrogen dioxide and is sent to rectification..where it is separated into high concentrated and azeotropic acid.
2003 P. Martin Mammoth Bk. Cocktails ii. 42 After distillation and rectification the curaçao is colourless and is known as triple sec.
3. Mathematics. The process of finding a straight line equal in length to a given curve; the process of determining the length of a curve by mathematical means. Cf. rectify v. 5c. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > other
medial line1570
radius1590
lineature1630
foot line1658
rectification1685
axis1734
slant side1824
radiant1842
transverse1867
median1883
bilinear1923
1685 J. Wallis Treat. Algebra 293 The Year following (1659), Mr. Heurat, lights on the Rectification of the same Curve, which Mr. Neil had done before.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Rectification of Curves is a Branch of the higher Geometry.
1823 J. Mitchell Dict. Math. & Physical Sci. 413/2 It is..to the doctrine of fluxions that we owe the complete rectification of curve lines, in finite terms.
1892 tr. H. Schubert Math. Ess. 119 The quadrature of the circle stands and falls with the problem of rectification.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xvii. 382 They..tackled problems such as..the rectification of curves, and other basic calculus topics.
2006 Neurocomputing 69 413 This method relies upon the technique of curve rectification, well known from calculus.
4.
a. The conversion of an alternating current into a direct current.half-wave rectification: see half-wave n. at half adj. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > alternating current > [noun] > change of direction
alternation1843
rectification1892
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > rectifier > [noun] > conversion to direct current
rectification1892
1892 Electr. Engineer 8 July 35/2 These gentlemen [sc. Messrs. Hutin and Leblanc] have recently been experimenting with condensers, a field of which great things may expected shortly both in the application of alternate current to motors, and to the rectification into direct currents.
1893 U.S. Patent 510,465 2/2 The current leaves the machine as a direct current, the rectification being performed by a commutator E or other suitable means.
1903 Work 28 Mar. 121/1 Such a cell..may be successfully applied to the rectification and measurement of telephone currents.
1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 1027/2 The remainder of the plate voltage is created by the rectification by the valve of the speech currents induced in the secondary circuit.
1970 J. Shepherd et al. Higher Electr. Engin. (ed. 2) xxv. 798 The semiconductor diode rectifier is now replacing the mercury-arc rectifier for polyphase rectification in all applications except those involving the highest voltages.
2001 S. Hong Wireless v. 135 Such electrolytic rectifiers..are not effective for high frequency current, because the chemical actions on which the rectification depends take time.
b. Physiology. Alteration of the resistance or conductance of the membrane of a nerve or muscle cell in response to the flow of current across it.Outward rectification is an increase in membrane conductance from the inside to the outside; rectification in the opposite direction is called inward or anomalous rectification.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > action of nervous system > [noun] > reception or transmission of impulses
reflection1836
irradiation1847
conduction1855
diffusion1859
projection1872
conductivity1881
fusion1892
facilitation1894
reciprocal innervation1896
chemoreception1901
photoreception1902
neurotropism1905
proprioception1906
cheirokinaesthesia1913
schema1920
recruitment1923
conductance1926
volley1928
rectification1941
supersensitivity1949
mechanoreception1958
neurotransmission1961
electroreception1963
phototransduction1972
somatotopy1976
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electricity in living organisms > [noun] > membrane as conductor > passage through
rectification1941
conductance1966
1941 K. S. Cole & H. J. Curtis in Jrnl. Gen. Physiol. 24 562 The most convenient specification of the rectification characteristics of the membrane.
1962 Jrnl. Physiol. 163 61 A fall in the membrane conductance when the membrane current flows from the inside to the outside of the fibre, and rise in conductance when the current is in the opposite direction has been called anomalous rectification.
1965 Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) vi. 258 In skeletal muscle fibres..and in cardiac muscle fibres..rectification in the opposite direction to that predicted from simple changes in membrane ion concentration occurs.
2003 G. M. Shepherd in L. R. Squire et al. Fund. Neurosci. (ed. 2) xii. 333 (caption) Analysis of medium spiny neuron showing inward rectification of the membrane that controls the response of the dendrites to excitatory synaptic inputs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.a1400