rec·ti·fy

(rĕk′tə-fī′)

tr.v. rec·ti·fied, rec·ti·fy·ing, rec·ti·fies

a. To set right; correct: rectified the situation by adding more chairs so that more people could sit. See Synonyms at correct.

b. To correct by calculation or adjustment: rectified the mathematical error.

2. Chemistry To refine or purify, especially by distillation.

3. Electronics To convert (alternating current) into direct current.

4. To adjust (the proof of alcoholic beverages) by adding water or other liquids.

[Middle English rectifien, from Old French rectifier, from Medieval Latin rēctificāre : Latin rēctus, right; see reg- in Indo-European roots + Latin -ficāre, -fy.]

rec′ti·fi′a·ble adj.

rec′ti·fi·ca′tion (-fĭ-kā′shən) n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rectify

(ˈrɛktɪˌfaɪ)

vb (tr) , -fies, -fying or -fied

1. to put right; correct; remedy

2. (Chemistry) to separate (a substance) from a mixture or refine (a substance) by fractional distillation

3. (Electrical Engineering) to convert (alternating current) into direct current

4. (Mathematics) maths to determine the length of (a curve)

5. (Mechanical Engineering) to cause (an object) to assume a linear motion or characteristic

[C14: via Old French from Medieval Latin rectificāre to adjust, from Latin rectus straight + facere to make]

ˈrectiˌfiable adj

ˌrectifiˈcation n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rec•ti•fy

(ˈrɛk təˌfaɪ)

v.t. -fied, -fy•ing.

1. to make, put, or set right; correct: to rectify an error.

2. to put right by adjustment or calculation, as a course at sea.

3. to purify (esp. a spirit or liquor) by repeated distillation.

4. to change (an alternating current) into a direct current.

5. to determine the length of (a curve).

[1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French rectifier < Medieval Latin rēctificāre= Latin rēct(us) right + -i- -i- + -ficāre -fy]

rec`ti•fi•ca′tion, n.

rectify

Past participle: rectified
Gerund: rectifying

Imperative
rectify
rectify

Present
I rectify
you rectify
he/she/it rectifies
we rectify
you rectify
they rectify

Preterite
I rectified
you rectified
he/she/it rectified
we rectified
you rectified
they rectified

Present Continuous
I am rectifying
you are rectifying
he/she/it is rectifying
we are rectifying
you are rectifying
they are rectifying

Present Perfect
I have rectified
you have rectified
he/she/it has rectified
we have rectified
you have rectified
they have rectified

Past Continuous
I was rectifying
you were rectifying
he/she/it was rectifying
we were rectifying
you were rectifying
they were rectifying

Past Perfect
I had rectified
you had rectified
he/she/it had rectified
we had rectified
you had rectified
they had rectified

Future
I will rectify
you will rectify
he/she/it will rectify
we will rectify
you will rectify
they will rectify

Future Perfect
I will have rectified
you will have rectified
he/she/it will have rectified
we will have rectified
you will have rectified
they will have rectified

Future Continuous
I will be rectifying
you will be rectifying
he/she/it will be rectifying
we will be rectifying
you will be rectifying
they will be rectifying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been rectifying
you have been rectifying
he/she/it has been rectifying
we have been rectifying
you have been rectifying
they have been rectifying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been rectifying
you will have been rectifying
he/she/it will have been rectifying
we will have been rectifying
you will have been rectifying
they will have been rectifying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been rectifying
you had been rectifying
he/she/it had been rectifying
we had been rectifying
you had been rectifying
they had been rectifying

Conditional
I would rectify
you would rectify
he/she/it would rectify
we would rectify
you would rectify
they would rectify

Past Conditional
I would have rectified
you would have rectified
he/she/it would have rectified
we would have rectified
you would have rectified
they would have rectified

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Verb	1.	rectify - math: determine the length of; "rectify a curve" ascertain, determine, find out, find - establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study; "find the product of two numbers"; "The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize"
	2.	rectify - reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities; "refine sugar" refine distill, make pure, purify, sublimate - remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation; "purify the water"
	3.	rectify - bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one; "The Church reformed me"; "reform your conduct" reform, regenerate, reclaim alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" see the light, straighten out, reform - change for the better; "The lazy student promised to reform"; "the habitual cheater finally saw the light" moralise, moralize - improve the morals of
	4.	rectify - set straight or right; "remedy these deficiencies"; "rectify the inequities in salaries"; "repair an oversight" remediate, remedy, amend, repair correct, right, rectify - make right or correct; "Correct the mistakes"; "rectify the calculation"
	5.	rectify - make right or correct; "Correct the mistakes"; "rectify the calculation" correct, right change by reversal, reverse, turn - change to the contrary; "The trend was reversed"; "the tides turned against him"; "public opinion turned when it was revealed that the president had an affair with a White House intern" remediate, remedy, amend, rectify, repair - set straight or right; "remedy these deficiencies"; "rectify the inequities in salaries"; "repair an oversight" debug - locate and correct errors in a computer program code; "debug this program"
	6.	rectify - convert into direct current; "rectify alternating current" exchange, convert, commute, change - exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?"; "He changed his name"; "convert centimeters into inches"; "convert holdings into shares"

rectify

verb correct, right, improve, reform, square, fix, repair, adjust, remedy, amend, make good, mend, redress, put right, set the record straight, emend Only an act of Congress could rectify the situation.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

rectify

verb

1. To make right what is wrong:

amend, correct, emend, mend, redress, reform, remedy, right.

2. To bring (something) into a state of agreement or accord:

reconcile, resolve, settle, smooth over, straighten out.

Translations

يُصَحِّحيُصَحِّحُ

napravitopravit

berigtigeudbedre

oikaista

ispraviti

leiîrétta

rettificare correggibile

修正する

개정하다

ištaisomas

izlabotvērst par labu

rätta till

แก้ให้ถูกต้อง

düzeltmek

sửa lại

矫正纠正改正

rectify

[ˈrektɪfaɪ] VT → rectificar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

rectify

[ˈrɛktɪfaɪ] vt [+ error] → rectifier, corriger; [+ situation] → redresser; [+ omission] → réparer

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

rectify

(= correct) → korrigieren, verbessern; statement, situation → richtigstellen, korrigieren; position, anomaly, mistake → korrigieren; instrument → richtig einstellen, korrigieren; omission → nachholen, wiedergutmachen; problem → beheben

(Elec) → gleichrichten

(Chem, Math) → rektifizieren

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

rectify

[ˈrɛktɪˌfaɪ] vt (error) → rettificare; (omission) → riparare a

rectify

(ˈrektifai) verb

to put right or correct (a mistake etc). We shall rectify the error as soon as possible.

ˌrectiˈfiable adjective

ˌrectifiˈcation (-fi-) noun

rectify

→ يُصَحِّحُ napravit berigtige berichtigen επανορθώνω rectificar oikaista rectifier ispraviti rettificare 修正する 개정하다 rectificeren korrigere poprawić retificar исправлять rätta till แก้ให้ถูกต้อง düzeltmek sửa lại 矫正

rec·ti·fy

vt. rectificar, corregir, enmendar.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

What education is, and how children ought to be instructed, is what should be well known; for there are doubts concerning the business of it, as all people do not agree in those things they would have a child taught, both with respect to their improvement in virtue and a happy life: nor is it clear whether the object of it should be to improve the reason or rectify the morals.

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"Hurrah!" roared an energetic voice, "let us unite our efforts, invent the necessary machines, and rectify the earth's axis!"

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Sir James is a young man of an amiable disposition and excellent character; a little too much of the rattle, perhaps, but a year or two will rectify THAT: and he is in other respects so very eligible a match for Frederica, that I have always observed his attachment with the greatest pleasure; and am persuaded that you and my brother will give the alliance your hearty approbation.

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Miss Thorpe, however, being four years older than Miss Morland, and at least four years better informed, had a very decided advantage in discussing such points; she could compare the balls of Bath with those of Tunbridge, its fashions with the fashions of London; could rectify the opinions of her new friend in many articles of tasteful attire; could discover a flirtation between any gentleman and lady who only smiled on each other; and point out a quiz through the thickness of a crowd.

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I wonder what she can see to like in me though, for I am no longer the happy, lively girl I used to be; but she has no other society, save that of her uncongenial mother, and her governess (as artificial and conventional a person as that prudent mother could procure to rectify the pupil's natural qualities), and, now and then, her subdued, quiet sister.

We had been romping with the little creatures, almost as merry and wild as themselves, and now paused in the shade of the tall copper beech, to recover breath and rectify our hair, disordered by the rough play and the frolicsome breeze, while they toddled together along the broad, sunny walk; my Arthur supporting the feebler steps of her little Helen, and sagaciously pointing out to her the brightest beauties of the border as they passed, with semi-articulate prattle, that did as well for her as any other mode of discourse.

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A failure in this delicate and important point is the great source of the inconveniences we experience, and if we are not cautious to avoid a repetition of the error, in our future attempts to rectify and ameliorate our system, we may travel from one chimerical project to another; we may try change after change; but we shall never be likely to make any material change for the better.

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Having given orders in the commander in chief's name to rectify this omission, Prince Andrew galloped back.

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That was an error to which I was accustomed and which it was not my habit to rectify unless the matter seemed important.

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Regard to my family hath made me take upon myself to be the mediating power, in order to rectify those mistakes in policy which you have committed in your daughter's education.

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I should like to go farther, and give reasons to show that it is advisable to choose those who are to hold so necessary an office in the state, but this is not the fit place for it; some day I will expound the matter to some one able to see to and rectify it; all I say now is, that the additional fact of his being a sorcerer has removed the sorrow it gave me to see these white hairs and this venerable countenance in so painful a position on account of his being a pimp; though I know well there are no sorceries in the world that can move or compel the will as some simple folk fancy, for our will is free, nor is there herb or charm that can force it.

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These fellow-mortals, every one, must be accepted as they are: you can neither straighten their noses, nor brighten their wit, nor rectify their dispositions; and it is these people--amongst whom your life is passed--that it is needful you should tolerate, pity, and love: it is these more or less ugly, stupid, inconsistent people whose movements of goodness you should be able to admire-- for whom you should cherish all possible hopes, all possible patience.

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