印证

• Pinyin: yìn zhèng
• Hanzi breakdown: 印 = 卩 + 爪 (seal stamp — to confirm, to mark as verified); 证 = 言 + 正 (speech + upright — to testify, to prove correctly)

Meaning

To verify; to corroborate; to confirm through evidence. Also used as a noun: corroboration, verification.

Implies that one piece of evidence or argument is confirmed and substantiated by another — mutual authentication. Distinguished from 证明 (to prove): 印证 emphasises that evidence from a separate, independent source confirms what was already suspected or claimed. Common in academic, legal, and analytical writing.

Examples

1. 新出土的汉简与《史记》关于昭帝时期政局的记载高度吻合，有力印证了史学界的主流解释。 The newly unearthed Han bamboo slips closely match the account in the Shiji of the political situation during Emperor Zhao's reign, strongly confirming the mainstream historical interpretation.
2. 多项北欧长期研究相互印证：在抑制不平等并提供普惠公共服务的制度下，增长、流动性与幸福感可长期并进。 Multiple long-term Nordic studies confirm one another: under a system that restrains inequality and provides universal public services, growth, mobility, and well-being can advance together over the long term.
3. 三名独立证人的说法彼此印证，辩方的质疑也就难以成立。 The statements of the three independent witnesses corroborate each other, so the defense's doubts are hard to sustain.

Usage Guide

Context: academic, legal, journalism, research

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 气候模型预测与全球观测数据相互印证，说明极端降水正明显增多。(Climate model predictions and global observational data corroborate each other, showing that extreme precipitation is clearly increasing.)
• 书中大量档案、回忆录和新闻报道彼此印证，还原了那个时代的社会心态和政治气氛。(The book's many archives, memoirs, and news reports corroborate one another, recreating the social mindset and political atmosphere of that era.)

Don't Say

• 他印证了去商店 — 印证 requires an object that is a proposition, claim, finding, or testimony, not a physical action or destination; use 证实 or 确认 for simple factual confirmation; 印证 specifically means that separate evidence sources align to confirm the same thing

Origin & History

印 (to imprint/stamp — to mark with confirmation) + 证 (to prove/attest — 言 speech + 正 upright/correct; to testify correctly); together: 'to stamp with confirmation through testimony' — to verify through corroborating evidence

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Educated/professional