authentic

English

Alternative forms

• authentical, authentick, authenticke, authentique (all archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English authentik, from Old French autentique, from Latin authenticus, from Ancient Greek αὐθεντικός (authentikós, “authentic, genuine”), from Ancient Greek αὐθέντης (authéntēs, “perpetrator, murderer, absolute ruler”). Doublet of effendi.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɒˈθɛn.tɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑˈθɛn.tɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

authentic (comparative more authentic, superlative most authentic)

1. Of the same origin as claimed; genuine.

   The experts confirmed it was an authentic signature.

2. Conforming to reality and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief.

   an authentic writer; an authentic portrait; authentic information

   The report was completely authentic.

3. (music)
   1. Designating a mode having the final as the lowest note.
   2. Designating a cadence in which the dominant chord precedes the tonic.
4. (obsolete) Authoritative.
   • 1641 June or July, [John Milton], Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and Whither It may be Deduc’d from the Apostolical Times by Vertue of Those Testimonies which are Alledg’d to that Purpose in Some Late Treatises: […], London: […] R[ichard] O[ulton] & G[regory] D[exter] for Thomas Underhill, […], →OCLC, page 11:

     [T]here they find Ignatius, and then they beleeve him not for his ovvn Authority, but for a truths ſake, vvhich they derive from elſ vvhere: to vvhat end then ſhould they cite him as authentick for Epiſcopacie, vvhen they cannot knovv vvhat is authentick in him, but by the judgement vvhich they brought vvith them, and not by any judgement vvhich they might ſafely learne from him.

Synonyms

• (of the claimed origin): genuine, real, bonafide, bona fide, unfaked
• (conforming to fact): reliable, trustworthy, credible, unfaked

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “not of the claimed origin”): non-authentic, nonauthentic, phony, fake; ingenuine, inauthentic, unauthentic

Derived terms

• authentically
• authentic assessment
• authenticate
• authentication
• authentic cadence
• authenticism
• authenticist
• authenticity
• authenticize
• authentic learning
• authenticly
• authenticness
• fauxthentic
• hyperauthentic
• superauthentic

Translations

of undisputed origin

Afrikaans: outentiek (af), eg (af) Belarusian: аўтэнты́чны (be) (awtentýčny) Bulgarian: автенти́чен (bg) (avtentíčen) Catalan: autèntic (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 真實 / 真实 (zh) (zhēnshí), 真正 (zh) (zhēnzhèng), 確 / 确 (zh) (què), 真確 / 真确 (zh) (zhēnquè), 正宗 (zh) (zhèngzōng) Czech: pravý (cs), autentický (cs), originální (cs) Danish: autentisk Dutch: authentiek (nl), echt (nl) Esperanto: aŭtenta, aŭtentika (eo) Estonian: ehtne Finnish: aito (fi), autenttinen (fi) French: authentique (fr) Galician: auténtico (gl) m Georgian: სარწმუნო (sarc̣muno), ავთენტური (avtenṭuri) German: authentisch (de), echt (de) Greek: αυθεντικός (el) m (afthentikós) Ancient: αὐθεντικός (authentikós) Hebrew: אוֹתֶנְטִי (he) m (oténti) Ido: autentika (io) Italian: autentico (it) Japanese: 本物の (ja) (ほんものの, honmono no), 真正な (ja) (しんせいな, shinsei na) Khmer: please add this translation if you can Korean: 진정하다 (ko) (jinjeonghada), 진짜의 (ko) (jinjjaui) Lao: please add this translation if you can Maori: tūturu, motuhēhē, horopū, houtupu Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: autentisk Nynorsk: autentisk Occitan: autentic (oc) Ottoman Turkish: كرچك (gerçek) Polish: autentyczny (pl) Portuguese: autêntico (pt) Romanian: autentic (ro), adevărat (ro) Russian: по́длинный (ru) (pódlinnyj), достове́рный (ru) (dostovérnyj), аутенти́чный (ru) (autɛntíčnyj) Spanish: auténtico (es) Swedish: autentisk (sv) Thai: แท้ (th) (tɛ́ɛ), จริง (th) (jing) Tibetan: ངོ་མ (ngo ma) Turkish: gerçek (tr), hakiki (tr), otantik (tr) Ukrainian: автенти́чний (uk) (avtentýčnyj) Vietnamese: chân chính (vi) Yiddish: עכט (ekht), אויטענטיש (oytentish)

conforming to reality and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief

Bulgarian: достове́рен (bg) (dostovéren) Catalan: autèntic (ca) Czech: hodnověrný (cs), autentický (cs), věrohodný Esperanto: aŭtenta, aŭtentika (eo) Estonian: tõeline (et) Finnish: autenttinen (fi) Galician: auténtico (gl) m German: authentisch (de), echt (de), wahr (de) Greek: αυθεντικός (el) (afthentikós) Ancient: αὐθεντικός (authentikós) Korean: 확실한 (hwaksilhan) Maori: houtete Ottoman Turkish: كرچك (gerçek) Polish: autentyczny (pl), autentyk (pl) (colloquial) Portuguese: autêntico (pt) Romanian: autentic (ro) Russian: достове́рный (ru) (dostovérnyj) Scottish Gaelic: cinnteach Turkish: gerçek (tr), hakiki (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Irish: (please verify) barántúil

References

• “authentic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• authentic in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “authentic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.