rectify
verb
transitive verb
Did you know?
Which of the following words does not share its ancestry with rectify—direct, regimen, obstruct, correct, or resurrection? Like rectify, four of these words ultimately come from Latin regere, which can mean "to lead straight," "to direct," or "to rule." Correct and direct come from regere via Latin corrigere and dirigere, respectively. Resurrection comes from Latin resurgere, whose stem surgere, meaning "to rise," is a combination of sub- and regere. Regimen is from Latin regimen ("position of authority," "direction," "set of rules"), itself from regere. And rectify is from regere by way of Latin rectus ("right"). Obstruct is the only one of the set that has no relation to rectify. It traces back to Latin struere, meaning "to build" or "to heap up."
Synonyms
- amend
- correct
- debug
- emend
- red-pencil
- reform
- remedy
Example Sentences
Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 25 Aug. 2022 The field of implementation science has emerged to help rectify that problem. Mark S. Bauer, STAT, 12 Aug. 2022 In the security industry, a zero-day vulnerability refers to a software vulnerability that has never been detected on a system before, leaving IT administrators scrambling to immediately rectify it (with zero lead time). Rom Hendler, Forbes, 21 June 2022 Other issues would have a slower process, giving property owners time to rectify a problem. Steve Smith, Hartford Courant, 10 June 2022 The team's Twitter account is trying to rectify that slight with a campaign to get Diggins-Smith on the All-WNBA First Team at the end of the season. Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 28 July 2022 Just like a relationship where trust has been compromised, organizations and institutions that break the trust of their employees must recognize how much work is required to repair and rectify past wrongs. Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 19 July 2022 The club signed Andrew Heaney to a one-year deal last month, banking on their ability to rectify Heaney’s home run issues. Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2021 Many companies are trying hard to rectify very complex systems that integrate user information across a surprisingly high volume of applications. Daniel Barber, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2021 See More Word History
Middle English rectifien, from Anglo-French rectifier, from Medieval Latin rectificare, from Latin rectus right — more at right
circa 1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
rectify
verb
Medical Definition
rectify
transitive verb
rectify
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- amend
- correct
- remedy
- reform
- rewrite
- change
- improve
- emend
- redress
- debug
- repair
- ameliorate
- revise
- modify
- rework
- fix
- adjust
- right
- better
- redraw
- shorten
- redraft
- red-pencil
- alter
- regulate
- perfect
- polish
- modulate
- cut
- restyle
- touch up
- mend
- blue-pencil
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- hurt
- harm
- impair
- damage
- spoil
- injure
- aggravate
- worsen
- mar
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of rectify are amend, correct, emend, redress, reform, remedy, and revise. While all these words mean "to make right what is wrong," rectify implies a more essential changing to make something right, just, or properly controlled or directed.
Amend, reform, and revise imply an improving by making corrective changes, amend usually suggesting slight changes.
While the synonyms correct and rectify are close in meaning, correct implies taking action to remove errors, faults, deviations, defects.
The words emend and rectify are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, emend specifically implies correction of a text or manuscript.
The meanings of redress and rectify largely overlap; however, redress implies making compensation or reparation for an unfairness, injustice, or imbalance.
In some situations, the words reform and rectify are roughly equivalent. However, reform implies drastic change.
The synonyms remedy and rectify are sometimes interchangeable, but remedy implies removing or making harmless a cause of trouble, harm, or evil.
While in some cases nearly identical to rectify, revise suggests a careful examination of something and the making of necessary changes.