验证

• Pinyin: yàn zhèng
• Hanzi breakdown: 验 = 马 + 佥 (rigorous examination); 证 = 讠(speech/words) + 正 (correct — correct, authoritative testimony)

Meaning

To verify; to validate; to confirm through testing or evidence. The process of checking whether a hypothesis, claim, identity, or system performs as expected.

Used across scientific, technological, legal, and everyday contexts. In technology: 身份验证 (identity verification/authentication), 验证码 (verification code/CAPTCHA). In science: validating experimental hypotheses. In logic and law: confirming facts with evidence. Stronger than 证明 (to prove) in implying an active testing process rather than deduction.

Examples

1. 科学研究的核心在于可重复性，任何实验结论都必须经过独立研究团队在不同条件下的多次验证，方能被学术界广泛接受。 The core of scientific research is reproducibility: any experimental conclusion must be validated many times by independent research teams under different conditions before it can be widely accepted by the academic community.
2. 系统在向新设备发送敏感数据之前，会通过多因素验证机制对用户身份进行严格核实，以防止未经授权的访问行为。 Before sending sensitive data to a new device, the system uses multi-factor authentication to strictly verify the user’s identity, preventing unauthorized access.
3. 这一古老的天文预测方法在现代天文台的精密观测数据面前得到了充分验证，证明古代文明的天文学成就远超后人的想象。 This ancient method of astronomical prediction has been fully validated against precise observational data from modern observatories, showing that the astronomical achievements of ancient civilizations far exceeded later generations’ imagination.

Usage Guide

Context: science, technology, security, law, logic

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 在将这一药物推向市场之前，研发团队通过三期临床试验对其疗效和安全性进行了全面验证，所有核心指标均达到了监管机构设定的审批标准。(Before bringing this drug to market, the R&D team conducted a comprehensive validation of its efficacy and safety through three phases of clinical trials, with all core indicators meeting the approval standards set by the regulatory authorities.)
• 请输入您手机收到的六位数验证码以完成身份验证，该验证码有效期为十分钟，逾期需重新获取。(Please enter the six-digit verification code sent to your mobile phone to complete identity verification; the code is valid for ten minutes and must be re-requested after it expires.)

Don't Say

• 我验证你是对的 — 验证 requires a noun or noun clause as its object; say 我验证了你的说法是正确的 or 事实验证了你的判断

Origin & History

验 (to test/examine) + 证 (evidence/proof — 言 speech/words + 正 correct — correct testimony)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal