bona fide
authentic (genuine)
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
2014 Jaguar XF review: A BONA FIDE sports sedan for less than $100,000
(New York Daily News article headline)
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"With an ongoing board process to evaluate what appears to be a BONA FIDE offer from an interested and capable third party, we believe approval of the existing agreement would be premature," the company said in a report issued late Tuesday.
(Wall Street Journal)
(New York Daily News article headline)
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"With an ongoing board process to evaluate what appears to be a BONA FIDE offer from an interested and capable third party, we believe approval of the existing agreement would be premature," the company said in a report issued late Tuesday.
(Wall Street Journal)
Did you
know?
bona fide
adjective
- authentic, genuine
- made or carried out in good faith
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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The term bona fide stems from the Latin bona fides, literally meaning "good faith." In English, bona fides (with the "s" at the end) is a noun that refers to (1) good faith, (2) credentials, or (3) information, that establishes a person’s reputation or credentials and is used primarily in business and the legal profession. Bona fide (without "s") was originally an adverb meaning without fraud.
While the Latin bona fides is singular, writers in English frequently treat it as plural (As the notoriety of Anonymous spreads, some amateurish hackers are claiming affiliation with the group in order to bolster their own hacking bona fides - Wall Street Journal). This usage is accepted meanwhile.
Bona fide and bona fides are also sometimes written as single words (bonafide, bonafides), although this is grammatically incorrect. Beware of the word "bonified" as well, which is a misspelling of bona fide that is not recognized by the major dictionaries.
The issue with false plurals — nouns that end in "s" but which are singular — appears in other words such as measles, mumps, mathematics, politics, and genetics. And yes, there are also false singulars like bacteria, criteria, phenomena, and memoranda instead of the grammatically-correct bacterium, criterion, phenomenon, and memorandum when the singular is needed. When in doubt, consult a dictionary.
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SYNONYMS
real, genuine, authentic, legitimate, true, valid, veritable
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"London has numerous bona fide Indian restaurants to choose from."
adjective
- authentic, genuine
- made or carried out in good faith
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
The term bona fide stems from the Latin bona fides, literally meaning "good faith." In English, bona fides (with the "s" at the end) is a noun that refers to (1) good faith, (2) credentials, or (3) information, that establishes a person’s reputation or credentials and is used primarily in business and the legal profession. Bona fide (without "s") was originally an adverb meaning without fraud.
While the Latin bona fides is singular, writers in English frequently treat it as plural (As the notoriety of Anonymous spreads, some amateurish hackers are claiming affiliation with the group in order to bolster their own hacking bona fides - Wall Street Journal). This usage is accepted meanwhile.
Bona fide and bona fides are also sometimes written as single words (bonafide, bonafides), although this is grammatically incorrect. Beware of the word "bonified" as well, which is a misspelling of bona fide that is not recognized by the major dictionaries.
The issue with false plurals — nouns that end in "s" but which are singular — appears in other words such as measles, mumps, mathematics, politics, and genetics. And yes, there are also false singulars like bacteria, criteria, phenomena, and memoranda instead of the grammatically-correct bacterium, criterion, phenomenon, and memorandum when the singular is needed. When in doubt, consult a dictionary.
---
SYNONYMS
real, genuine, authentic, legitimate, true, valid, veritable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"London has numerous bona fide Indian restaurants to choose from."
