After an amendment to the u. s. constitution is proposed by congress, it must be ratified before it can be added to the constitution. what does ratified mean?

Ratification is a process in which a government (in this case, a state government) indicates its consent to be bound to a particular agreement (such as an amendment to the Constitution). Ratification also ensures that all the parties are informed of the agreement.

The procedure to ratify constitutional amendments is described in Article Five of the Constitution. For an amendment to be adopted, this has to be ratified by three-quarters of the states by a certain deadline.