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rectify

[rek-tuh-fahy]

Origin

verb (used with object), -fied, -fy·ing.

to make, put, or set right; remedy; correct: He sent them a check to rectify his account.

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

Chemistry. to purify (especially a spirit or liquor) by repeated distillation.

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

to determine the length of (a curve).

EXPAND

Astronomy, Geography. to adjust (a globe) for the solution of any proposed problem.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English rectifien < Middle French rectifier < Medieval Latin rēctificāre, equivalent to Latin rēct(us) right + -ificāre -ify

Related forms

non·rec·ti·fied, adjective

self-rec·ti·fy·ing, adjective

un·rec·ti·fied, adjective

Synonyms
1. mend, emend, amend. 2. adjust, regulate, straighten.

Antonyms
1. worsen, muddle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Rectify is an SAT word you need to know.

So is beseech. Does it mean:

scold severely or angrily

ask for earnestly

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Collins

World English Dictionary

rectify (ˈrɛktɪˌfaɪ)

—vb , -fies, -fying, -fied
1.	to put right; correct; remedy
2.	to separate (a substance) from a mixture or refine (a substance) by fractional distillation
3.	to convert (alternating current) into direct current
4.	maths to determine the length of (a curve)
5.	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]

'rectifiable

—*adj*

rectifi'cation

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

rectify

c.1400, from O.Fr. rectifier, lit. "to make straight" (14c.), from L.L. rectificare "make right" (3c.), from L. rectus "straight" (see right) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious).

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

rectify rec·ti·fy (rěk'tə-fī')
v. rec·ti·fied, rec·ti·fy·ing, rec·ti·fies

To set right; correct.
To refine or purify, especially by distillation.

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Matching Quote

"If a person is capable of rectifying his erroneous judgments in the light of new evidence he is not prejudiced. Prejudgments become prejudices only if they are reversible when exposed to new knowledge. A prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all evidence that would unseat it. We tend to grow emotional when a prejudice is threatened with contradiction. Thus the difference between ordinary prejudgments and prejudice is that one can discuss and rectify a prejudgment without emotional resistance."

-Gordon W. Allport

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