Reaffirms

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To restate a claim or principle for the sake of emphasis and validity
2. To state something again clearly and firmly in order to confirm its truth or validity
3. To express support or agreement anew to reinforce a previously made assertion

Etymology: "Reaffirms" is the third-person singular present form of "reaffirm," so it simply says that someone or something affirms again. The base verb is built from the prefix "re-," meaning "again" or "back," attached to "affirm," which comes from Latin "affirmare," meaning "to make firm" or "to strengthen," formed from "ad-" ("to") and "firmus" ("firm, steady"). The idea of making something solid is still present: to affirm is to make a claim firm, and to reaffirm is to make it firm once more. Both parts entered English by different routes. "Affirm" arrived through Old French, which had inherited the Latin verb, and entered Middle English as part of the wave of legal and formal vocabulary that followed the Norman period. "Re-" is a much older Latin prefix that English has long used productively, which is why the combination is so easy to build: any firm statement can be restated and reaffirmed.

Synonyms: reasserts, restate, reconfirm, reestablish, validate

Antonyms: deny, reject, disaffirm, disavow, contradict