Confirmative

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Serving to establish the truth or accuracy of something through supporting evidence or verification
2. Functioning to affirm or validate the truth of a statement by providing corroborative evidence or support
3. Acting to substantiate or reinforce a claim through additional proof or verification processes

Etymology: "Confirmative" is about as plain as English word-building gets: it is "confirm" with the suffix "-ative" attached, and the result means serving to confirm. "Confirm" came into English from Old French "confirmer", which in turn comes from Latin "confirmare", meaning to make firm or strengthen, from "con-" (together, thoroughly) and "firmare" (to make firm, from "firmus", firm). So the core idea was strengthening something until it could not be shaken, and only later did it come to mean establishing that something is true. The suffix "-ative" arrived via French "-atif" and Latin "-ativus", and it forms adjectives meaning having the nature of or tending toward the action of the base verb. Attaching it to "confirm" gives a word for something that performs confirmation, such as a confirmative statement or sign.

Synonyms: affirmative, assuring, validating

Antonyms: negative, denying, refuting