authentic

English Online Dictionary. What means authentic‎? What does authentic mean?

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, “principal, genuine”), from Ancient Greek αὐθέντης (authéntēs, “lord, master”). Doublet of effendi.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

authentic (comparative more authentic, superlative most authentic)

1. Of the same origin as claimed; genuine.

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

   an authentic writer; an authentic portrait; authentic information

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.

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

Translations

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.
• “authentic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.