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 combination means an offline cracking attack can make billions of guesses per second, a thousandfold advantage over the same password hashed by non-Kerberos authentication methods. —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2025

Focus on key security principles like multifactor authentication (MFA) for all users and devices, and least privilege access. —Rajat Bhargava, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025

In a notice confirming the breach, Plex says an unauthorized third party had gained access to a limited set of its customer data, which includes their emails, usernames, hashed passwords, and authentication data. —PC Magazine, 9 Sep. 2025

Critically, this authentication happens on your device, not on a server far away. —Jacob Roach, Wired News, 3 Sep. 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