to set or make true, accurate, or right; remove the errors or faults from: The native guide corrected our pronunciation. The new glasses corrected his eyesight.
2.
to point out or mark the errors in: The teacher corrected the examination papers.
3.
to scold, rebuke, or punish in order to improve: Should parents correct their children in public?
4.
to counteract the operation or effect of (something hurtful or undesirable): The medication will correct stomach acidity.
5.
Mathematics,Physics. to alter or adjust so as to bring into accordance with a standard or with a required condition.
–verb (used without object)
6.
to make a correction or corrections.
7.
(of stock prices) to reverse a trend, esp. temporarily, as after a sharp advance or decline in previous trading sessions.
–adjective
8.
conforming to fact or truth; free from error; accurate: a correct answer.
9.
in accordance with an acknowledged or accepted standard; proper: correct behavior.
[Origin: 1300–50; (v.) ME correcten (< AF correcter) < L corréctus ptp. of corrigere to make straight, equiv. to cor-cor-+ reg- (s. of regere to direct) + -tus ptp. suffix; (adj.) (< F correct) < L, as above]
—Related forms
cor·rect·a·ble, cor·rect·i·ble, adjective
cor·rect·a·bil·i·ty, cor·rect·i·bil·i·ty, noun
cor·rect·ing·ly, adverb
cor·rect·ly, adverb
cor·rect·ness, noun
cor·rec·tor, noun
—Synonyms 1. rectify, amend, emend, reform, remedy. 3. warn, chasten, castigate. See punish.8. faultless, perfect, exact. Correct,accurate,precise imply conformity to fact, standard, or truth. A correct statement is one free from error, mistakes, or faults. An accurate statement is one that shows careful conformity to fact, truth, or spirit. A precise statement shows scrupulously strict and detailed conformity to fact.
To punish for the purpose of improving or reforming.
To remove, remedy, or counteract (a malfunction, for example).
To adjust so as to meet a required standard or condition: correct the wheel alignment on a car.
v.
intr.
To make corrections.
To make adjustments; compensate: correcting for the effects of air resistance.
adj.
Free from error or fault; true or accurate.
Conforming to standards; proper: correct behavior.
[Middle English correcten, from Latin corrigere, corrēct-, to correct : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + regere, to rule; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]
cor·rect'a·ble, cor·rect'i·ble adj., cor·rect'ly adv., cor·rect'ness n., cor·rec'tor n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to make right what is wrong. Correct refers to eliminating faults, errors, or defects: I corrected the spelling mistakes. Rectify stresses the idea of bringing something into conformity with a standard of what is right: The omission of your name from the list will be rectified. Remedy involves removing or counteracting something considered a cause of harm or damage: He took courses to remedy his abysmal ignorance. Redress refers to setting right something considered immoral or unethical and usually involves making reparation: The wrong is too great to be redressed. Reform implies broad change that improves form or character: "Let us reform our schools, and we shall find little reform needed in our prisons" (John Ruskin).
Revise suggests change that results from reconsideration: The author revised her manuscript for publication. Amend implies improvement through alteration or correction: "Whenever [the people] shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it" (Abraham Lincoln). See Also Synonyms at punish.
1340, "to set right, rectify" (a fault or error), from L. correctus, pp. of corrigere "make straight, put right," from com- intens. prefix + regere "to lead straight, rule" (see regal). Originally of persons; with ref. to writing, etc., attested from c.1374. The pp. adj. is recorded from 1460. House of correction first recorded 1575.
free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth; "the correct answer"; "the correct version"; "the right answer"; "took the right road"; "the right decision" [ant: incorrect]
2.
socially right or correct; "it isn't right to leave the party without saying goodbye"; "correct behavior"
3.
in accord with accepted standards of usage or procedure; "what's the right word for this?"; "the right way to open oysters"
4.
correct in opinion or judgment; "time proved him right" [syn: right] [ant: wrong]
verb
1.
make right or correct; "Correct the mistakes"; "rectify the calculation" [ant: falsify]
2.
make reparations or amends for; "right a wrongs done to the victims of the Holocaust" [syn: right] [ant: wrong]
3.
censure severely; "She chastised him for his insensitive remarks" [syn: chastise]
4.
adjust for; "engineers will work to correct the effects or air resistance" [syn: compensate]
5.
punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience; "The teacher disciplined the pupils rather frequently" [syn: discipline]
6.
go down in value; "the stock market corrected"; "prices slumped" [syn: decline]
7.
alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard; "Adjust the clock, please"; "correct the alignment of the front wheels" [syn: adjust]
8.
treat a defect; "The new contact lenses will correct for his myopia"
Ac"cu*rate\, a. [L. accuratus, p. p. and a., fr. accurare to take care of; ad + curare to take care, cura care. See Cure.]1. In exact or careful conformity to truth, or to some standard of requirement, the result of care or pains; free from failure, error, or defect; exact; as, an accurate calculator; an accurate measure; accurate expression, knowledge, etc. 2. Precisely fixed; executed with care; careful. [Obs.] Those conceive the celestial bodies have more accurate influences upon these things below. --Bacon. Syn: Correct; exact; just; nice; particular. Usage: Accurate, Correct, Exact, Precise. We speak of a thing as correct with reference to some rule or standard of comparison; as, a correct account, a correct likeness, a man of correct deportment. We speak of a thing as accurate with reference to the care bestowed upon its execution, and the increased correctness to be expected therefrom; as, an accurate statement, an accurate detail of particulars. We speak of a thing as exact with reference to that perfected state of a thing in which there is no defect and no redundance; as, an exact coincidence, the exact truth, an exact likeness. We speak of a thing as precise when we think of it as strictly conformed to some rule or model, as if cut down thereto; as a precise conformity instructions; precisely right; he was very precise in giving his directions.
A*mend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Amended; p. pr. & vb. n. Amending.] [F. amender, L. emendare; e (ex) + mendum, menda, fault, akin to Skr. minda personal defect. Cf. Emend, Mend.] To change or modify in any way for the better; as, (a) by simply removing what is erroneous, corrupt, superfluous, faulty, and the like; (b) by supplying deficiencies; (c) by substituting something else in the place of what is removed; to rectify. Mar not the thing that can not be amended. --Shak. An instant emergency, granting no possibility for revision, or opening for amended thought. --De Quincey. We shall cheer her sorrows, and amend her blood, by wedding her to a Norman. --Sir W. Scott. To amend a bill, to make some change in the details or provisions of a bill or measure while on its passage, professedly for its improvement. Syn: To Amend, Emend, Correct, Reform, Rectify. Usage: These words agree in the idea of bringing things into a more perfect state. We correct (literally, make straight) when we conform things to some standard or rule; as, to correct proof sheets. We amend by removing blemishes, faults, or errors, and thus rendering a thing more a nearly perfect; as, to amend our ways, to amend a text, the draft of a bill, etc. Emend is only another form of amend, and is applied chiefly to editions of books, etc. To reform is literally to form over again, or put into a new and better form; as, to reform one's life. To rectify is to make right; as, to rectify a mistake, to rectify abuses, inadvertencies, etc.
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