Affirm

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈfɝm/

Definitions

1. To state or assert something as true with confidence or conviction
2. To confidently declare something to be true or factual
3. To express a firm belief in the truth or validity of a statement

Etymology: The verb "affirm" carries a physical idea underneath its legal and logical sense: Latin "affirmare" meant "to make firm" or "to fix something in place," built from "ad" ("to") and "firmus" ("firm"). A Latin speaker could affirm a post or a boundary, long before anyone affirmed a fact. The notion of holding something steady gradually moved from objects to statements, so to affirm something came to mean making a claim fixed and unshakeable. The word reached English through Middle English "affermen," which was borrowed from Old French "afermer," the same root passing through French before English took it. The English spelling with its "-irm-" ending was reshaped later to match the Latin original, which is why modern spelling looks more Latin than the medieval forms did.

Synonyms: assert, confirm, declare, state, maintain

Antonyms: deny, contradict, refute, disavow, negate