Other forms: falsified, falsifying, falsifies
To falsify is to show something false, or to fake evidence. Falsify the records, falsify a hypothesis, falsified accounts.
The two senses are almost opposite in spirit. Faking documents is a crime; falsifying a hypothesis is the central act of science, on Popper's account — a theory counts as scientific only if some observation could show it false. Note that the Latin means to make false.
1verbfakeTo fake evidence or records.
“The accountant falsified the company's records to hide the missing money.”
2verbfalsifyTo show a claim to be false.
“One black swan was enough to falsify the claim that all swans are white.”
falsify is a making or showing false.
Latin falsificare is falsus, false, plus facere, to make. False and fault come from the same failing.
Latin
falsificō — make false, corrupt, counterfeit, falsify
French
falsifier
English, today
falsify
Built from
From French falsifier, from Latin falsificō (“make false, corrupt, counterfeit, falsify”), from Latin falsificus, from falsus (“false”), corresponding to false + ify.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA