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

Credential stuffing attacks can occur when individuals use the same authentication credentials on multiple sites. —Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2025

To ensure privacy in multi-user households, Dekoda includes fingerprint authentication and allows each person to manage their own data separately. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2025

Spivack recommends the use of authentication software such as Content Credentials, developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, which appends metadata about provenance to images and videos. —Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 20 Oct. 2025

As the global market for secondhand luxury items surges, authentication has become the defining factor separating credible platforms from the rest. —Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 18 Oct. 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