authentic

/ə-ˈthen-tik/

Middle English autentik, auctentyke, borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French autentik, autentique, borrowed from Medieval Latin autenticus, authenticus, auctenticus "original, genuine (of a document), authoritative, approved by authority," going back to Latin authenticus "original (of a document)," borrowed from Greek authentikós "warranted as genuine, original, authoritative," probably from authentía "absolute sway, authority" (from authéntēs "doer, master" + -ia ) + -ikos ; authéntēs, in earlier Greek "killer, murderer, perpetrator of a deed," from aut- auto--hentēs, from hen- (going back to Indo-European *senh-, full-grade ablaut of zero-grade *sn̥-ne-h, whence Greek ánymi, anýnai "to complete, achieve, perpetrate") + -tēs, agent suffix

adjective

  1. not false or imitation : real, actual

  2. true to one's own personality, spirit, or character

  3. worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact

an authentic cockney accent

authentic genuine bona fide mean being actually and exactly what is claimed. authentic implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact ; it can also stress painstaking or faithful imitation of an original.