affirm

English

Etymology

From Middle English affermen, 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”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈfɝm/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈfɜːm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m

Verb

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.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 25:19:

     Jesus, […] whom Paul affirmed to be alive

3. To support or encourage.

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

   gender-affirming; trans-affirming (LGBTQ+)

   • August 24 2021, Shon Faye, “‘I feel like it’s quite shaky acceptance’: trans kids and the fight for inclusion”, in The Guardian:

     Kate pointed out that these similarities between the various accounts of parents with trans children attracts criticism from those commentators who argue that trans children do not exist or should not be affirmed in their gender.

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.
5. (law) To state under a solemn promise to tell the truth which is considered legally equivalent to an oath, especially of those who have religious or other moral objections to swearing oaths; also solemnly affirm.

Synonyms

• validate

Antonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• disaffirm
• deny (of 1,2)
• repudiate (of 2)
• invalidate (of 4)

Derived terms

• affirmability
• affirmable
• affirmance
• affirmer
• affirming the consequent
• gender-affirming
• life-affirming
• misaffirm
• open and affirming
• reaffirm
• unaffirmed

 

Related terms

• affirmation
• affirmative

Translations

to agree with or verify

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承认 (zh) (chéngrèn),肯定 (zh) (kěndìng)

• Danish: bejae
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi)
• Galician: afirmar (gl)
• German: zustimmen (de), bejahen (de), bestätigen (de)
• Greek: βεβαιώ (vevaió), επιβεβαιώνω (el) (epivevaióno)
• Italian: affermare (it)
• Japanese: 肯定する (ja) (こうていする, kōtei suru)
• Latin: affirmō, dico (la)
• Lithuanian: teigti
• Maori: whakakoikoia, whakakoia, whakatūturu
• Middle English: affermen
• Polish: potwierdzać (pl) impf, potwierdzić (pl) pf, afirmować (pl) impf
• 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)
• Italian: affermare (it)
• Latin: dico (la)
• Polish: afirmować (pl) impf
• 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. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} твърдя (bg) (tvǎrdja), ^{(please verify)} заявявам (bg) (zajavjavam)
• Cornish: ^{(please verify)} affirmya, ^{(please verify)} afia
• Manx: ^{(please verify)} shickyree

See also

• affirmative action
• confirm

Further reading

• “affirm”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “affirm”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “affirm”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.