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Dictionary / affirm

affirm

/əˈfɝm/ (General-American)/əˈfɜːm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • verb
  • interjection
  • from Old French

To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.

▶ Play the mastery game

1 All current definitions

Every sense of “affirm” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.

verb

  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.

    Jesus, […] whom Paul affirmed to be alive1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 25:19:

  3. To support or encourage.

    gender-affirming; trans-affirming

  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. 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.
Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

interjection

  1. Yes; true; correct.
Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
Cross-check: WordNet senses (3)
  1. verbestablish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts — also: confirm, corroborate, sustain, substantiate, support
  2. verbto declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true — also: verify, assert, avow, aver, swan
  3. verbsay yes to
Princeton WordNet 3.0 — WordNet License

Synonyms: validate

Antonyms: disaffirm, deny, repudiate, invalidate

Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

2 History of the word

The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.

The word’s journey, newest to oldest:

  1. English (today)affirm
  2. Middle Englishaffermen
  3. Old Frenchafermer
  4. Latinaffirmare
  5. Latinad “to” + firmare “to make firm”
  6. Latinfirmus “firm”

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”). By surface analysis, af- + firm.

Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Derivatives — words built from “affirm”

affirmabilityaffirmableaffirmanceaffirmergender-affirminglife-affirmingmisaffirmreaffirmunaffirmed

Phrases & compounds

affirming the consequentopen and affirming

Related terms

affirmationaffirmativeactionconfirm
Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Want to go deeper? See also “affirm” on Etymonline ↗

3 Original language

Where “affirm” came from before it was English.

Came into English from
Old French
Old French afermer
Oldest written form
Latin
Latin firmus “firm”
Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

4 Original meaning

What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.

Latin
“firm”
Latin firmus
Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913

A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.

affirm v. t. [OE. affermen, OF. afermer, F. affirmer, affermir, fr. L. affirmare; ad + firmare to make firm, firmus firm. See Firm.]

  1. to assert or confirm, as a judgment, decree, or order, brought before an appellate court for review.
  2. To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true; -- opposed to deny.
  3. To declare, as a fact, solemnly, under judicial sanction. See Affirmation, 4.

affirm v. i.

  1. To declare or assert positively.
  2. To make a solemn declaration, before an authorized magistrate or tribunal, under the penalties of perjury; to testify by affirmation.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), public domain, via GCIDE

5 Use it with confidence

Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.

verbMeaning: To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.

She affirmed that she would go when I asked her.

verbMeaning: To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.

Jesus, […] whom Paul affirmed to be alive1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 25:19:

However, as anyone who knew Adrian Shooter would affirm, he very rarely took no for an answer.2024 August 21, Peter Plisner, “The changing role of our railway stations”, in RAIL, number 1016, page 62:

verbMeaning: To support or encourage.

gender-affirming; trans-affirming

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

Wiktionary: “affirm” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Three steps to owning it

  1. Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
  2. Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
  3. Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?

6 The mastery game

Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.

Step 1 of 9

Say it, then spell it

affirm

/əˈfɝm/

Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.

Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________

affirm

/əˈfɝm/ · verb, interjection

Step 1 — Say it and write it

Say “affirm” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.

Step 2 — Know every meaning

Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.

1. (verb) To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
2. (verb) To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
3. (verb) To support or encourage.
4. (verb) 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. (verb) 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.

Step 3 — Which meaning is it?

“She affirmed that she would go when I asked her.”

A. To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
B. To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
C. 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.

Circle the meaning used.

“gender-affirming; trans-affirming”

A. To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
B. 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.
C. To support or encourage.

Circle the meaning used.

Step 4 — History and origin

Which language did “affirm” come into English from?   A. Middle French  B. Old French  C. French  D. Old Norse

Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):

Write three words built from “affirm” and what each means:

Step 5 — Original meaning

The earliest traceable form is Latin firmus. What did it mean?

How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?

Step 6 — Use it yourself

Write a sentence using “affirm” to mean: To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
Write a sentence using “affirm” to mean: To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
Write a sentence using “affirm” to mean: To support or encourage.

☐ I can explain its meanings   ☐ I know its history   ☐ I know its original language   ☐ I know its original meaning   ☐ I can use it confidently

Answer key — affirm

Which meaning, sentence 1: A. To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.

Which meaning, sentence 2: C. To support or encourage.

Origin: B. Old French (Old French afermer)

Journey: English affirm ← Middle English affermen ← Old French afermer ← Latin affirmare ← Latin ad + firmare ← Latin firmus

Some derivatives: affirmability, affirmable, affirmance, affirmer, gender-affirming, life-affirming, misaffirm, reaffirm

Original meaning: Latin firmus — “firm”

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”). By surface analysis, af- + firm.

Sources: Wiktionary “affirm” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/affirm#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/affirm