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Glite Dictionary
✅ To officially approve 🧠 To declare insane 💵 To guarantee payment 📄 To show proof
to certify

to certify

15 7.5
To officially say that someone is legally insane
  • verb
  • /ˈsɜr.tɪ.faɪ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : declarar inimputable
  • If I certify that Brady was too ill to understand his rights, you might get the confession thrown out.

Examples

  • He was transferred to a mental asylum and certified insane.

    The Rise of the Krays (2015)

  • 'Near the end of his sentence, he was certified insane "and remanded to a mental hospital.

    Legend (2015)

  • - Do you really think that any psychiatrist is gonna certify this man for release--

    Rampage (1987)

  • -Or... we will have you certified insane!

    Victoria & Abdul (2017)

  • I have no alternative but to certify this man as criminally insane.

    Night of the Demon (1980)

  • They've asked me to certify you unfit, but I can't do it.

    Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

  • The judge decided to certify the defendant as criminally insane after reviewing the psychiatric evaluations.

  • After a thorough examination, the doctors were ready to certify him as unfit to stand trial.

  • The panel of psychiatrists will certify her condition as legally insane in their official report.

Surface Forms

certify infinitive
certified past
certified past participle
certifying present participle
certifies third person singular

Morphology

certify = certain (transparent) = cert + ify

The transformation from 'certain' to 'certify' is clear, indicating the action of making something certain or official.

Etymology

The word certify comes from the Latin parts certus ('sure') and facere ('to make'). So to certify someone as legally insane is to officially 'make sure' and declare that they are that way.