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to establish as genuine.
to establish the authorship or origin of conclusively or unquestionably, chiefly by the techniques of scholarship:
to authenticate a painting.
to make authoritative or valid.
Contemporary Examples

Lastly, users should seriously consider turning on 2-factor authentication for any service that supports it.
How to Mitigate the Damage of the Heartbleed Security Hole Joshua Kopstein April 10, 2014

Historical Examples

This is by no means an exclusively modern device of authentication, for these were known as early as the thirteenth century.
The Reign of the Manuscript Perry Wayland Sinks

Even this authentication did not create implicit belief in the minds of those to whom it was addressed.
Memoir of the Life of John Quincy Adams. Josiah Quincy

He had the certain pleasure of authentication and he was not the monopoly of having everything.
Matisse Picasso and Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein

Wanting this, all our speculations are vain; but having its authentication they are definitive.
The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays Thorstein Veblen

Their own authentication of their act finishes the business intrusted to them.
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. II (of 16) Thomas Hart Benton

Such an authentication has been deemed necessary in a treatise of this kind.
The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer’s Standpoint, Vol. I (of II) Walter M. Chandler

Other agents went with money and waggon-loads of flour, which were their own authentication.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II Marcus Dods

He wanted the tip to exhaust the subject of Death, and to leave him only the task of authentication.
When Ghost Meets Ghost William Frend De Morgan

What do they call it now—authentication charts, which is also a secret.
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15) The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

verb (transitive)
to establish as genuine or valid
to give authority or legal validity to
n.

1788, noun of action from authenticate (v.).
v.

“verify, establish the credibility of,” 1650s, from Medieval Latin authenticatus, past participle of authenticare, from authenticus (see authentic). Related: Authenticated; authenticating.

security
The verification of the identity of a person or process. In a communication system, authentication verifies that messages really come from their stated source, like the signature on a (paper) letter. The most common form of authentication is typing a user name (which may be widely known or easily guessable) and a corresponding password that is presumed to be known only to the individual being authenticated. Another form of authentication is biometrics.
(2007-02-22)