To ratify means to officially approve or confirm something, usually by voting on it. When enough people in authority agree to ratify a decision or document, it becomes official and binding.

The word comes up most often in government and law. When the United States Constitution was written in 1787, it didn't become the law of the land until nine states ratified it by holding special conventions to vote yes. Today, when Congress proposes an amendment to the Constitution, three-fourths of state legislatures must ratify it before it becomes part of the Constitution.

You'll also hear about countries ratifying treaties. When leaders from different nations negotiate an agreement, each country's government must formally ratify it through their own approval process before the treaty takes effect. A treaty might sit unratified for years if a country's legislature hasn't voted on it yet.

The key idea is that ratification makes something official. A principal might ratify a new school policy that teachers proposed. A board of directors might ratify a CEO's decision. When you ratify something, you're giving it your formal stamp of approval, which means you're taking responsibility for making it real and binding.