authentication

noun

au·​then·​ti·​ca·​tion ə-ˌthen-ti-ˈkā-shən 

ȯ-

plural authentications

: an act, process, or method of showing something (such as an identity, a piece of art, or a financial transaction) to be real, true, or genuine : the act or process of authenticating something

Historically, the authentication of art fell to connoisseurs …

—Colette Bancroft

Encryption and decryption, combined with user authentication, ensure that only intended recipients read the messages.

—Sal Ricciardi

Mostly, notaries have to be adept at the authentication arts. In an era of multiple-personality disorder, cross-dressing, sex-change surgery and bogus IDs, people aren't always who they appear to be. On the notary public rests the responsibility to verify a person's true identity and attest to it.

—Colette Bancroft

Giving users a way to prove that they're being harassed with, say, a screenshot or some other form of authentication could help Twitter catch bad actors, even after they've covered their tracks.

—Issie Lapowsky

—often used before another noun

authentication codes

authentication techniques

authentication keys

Examples of authentication in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The transfer process is user initiated, occurs directly between participating credential manager apps and is secured by local authentication like Face ID. —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2025

The top five brands with an elevated risk of fakes, based on the volume of submissions for authentication per brand, are Goyard, Prada, Givenchy, Loewe and Saint Laurent. —Alexandra Pastore, Footwear News, 11 June 2025

Biden signed an executive order in 2023 that directed the Department of Commerce to develop standards for authentication and watermarking, among other things, in the creation of a Safety Institute. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 5 June 2025

But as of last month, beneficiaries are no longer able to make direct deposit changes solely by phone and transactions require either a multifactor, multistep online identity authentication, or an in-person visit. —Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

authentic(ate) + -ation

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing authentication

• multifactor authentication
• two-factor authentication

Rhymes for authentication

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration