means The process of checking that something is true, accurate, or genuine before accepting it.

from From Latin verus, "true" (the same root that gives us verdict and veracity) joined to facere, "to make" — so to verify is literally "to make true," or rather to make sure of the true. It came into English through Medieval Latin verificare and Old French in the late Middle Ages, first wearing a legal robe: verifying meant proving an assertion in court before it counted.