affirm

Contents

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English, from Old French afermer, affermer, from Latin affirmare, adfirmare (“to present as fixed, aver, affirm”), from ad (“to”) + firmare (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”).

PronunciationEdit

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈfɝm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)m

VerbEdit

affirm (third-person singular simple present affirms, present participle affirming, simple past and past participle affirmed)

1. To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.

   She affirmed that she would go when I asked her.

2. To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
   • Bible, Acts xxv. 19

     Jesus, […] whom Paul affirmed to be alive

3. To support or encourage.

   They did everything they could to affirm the children's self-confidence.

4. To make firm; to confirm, or ratify; especially (law) to assert or confirm, as a judgment, decree, or order, brought before an appellate court for review.

AntonymsEdit

• deny

Related termsEdit

• affirmation
• affirmative

TranslationsEdit

to agree with or verify

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承认 (zh),肯定 (zh)

• Danish: bejae
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi)
• Galician: afirmar (gl)
• German: zustimmen (de), bejahen (de), bestätigen (de)
• Greek: βεβαιώ (vevaió), επιβεβαιώνω (el) (epivevaióno)
• Japanese: 肯定する (ja) (こうていする, kōtei suru)

• Latin: dico (la)
• Lithuanian: teigti
• Maori: whakakoikoia, whakakoia, whakatūturu
• Polish: potwierdzać (pl) impf, potwierdzić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: afirmar (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: potvrditi (sh)
• Spanish: afirmar (es)

to support or encourage

• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), tukea (fi)
• German: unterstützen (de)
• Greek: στηρίζω (el) (stirízo)
• Latin: dico (la)

• Portuguese: afirmar (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: poduprijeti (sh)
• Spanish: afirmar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} твърдя (bg) (tvǎrdja), ^{(please verify)} заявявам (bg) (zajavjavam)

• Manx: ^{(please verify)} shickyree

See alsoEdit

• affirmative action
• confirm

Further readingEdit

• affirm in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• affirm in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• affirm at OneLook Dictionary Search