Etymologically
Log in

confirm

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /kənˈfɜːm/, US /kənˈfɝːm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English confirmyen, confermen, borrowed from Old French confermer (“to strengthen, establish”) and directly from Latin cōnfirmāre (“to make firm, strengthen”),[2][3][4] from con- (here intensive) and firmāre (“to strengthen”), from firmus (“firm, steadfast”).[2][3][4] It is related to firm.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To ratify or make valid by a legal act: before 1250 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.[3][2] The OED's first quotation, for “make firm, strengthen”, is from before 1300.[6]

Semantic evolution

Ratifying a person in an office is from 1297.[6] Administering the church rite of confirmation is from about 1315,[6] and confirmation itself from about 1303.[3] To make certain, to verify the truth of something, is from the late 14th century.[2] To strengthen someone in an opinion or purpose is from 1485.[6] Confirmed, firmly established in a habit, as in a confirmed bachelor, is from about 1350.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1250 – to ratify.[3]
  • 1297 – to ratify a person in an office.[6]
  • c. 1315 – to administer confirmation.[6]
  • late 14th century – to verify.[2]
  • 1485 – to strengthen in an opinion.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To show or state that something is true or correct; to verify.
  2. To make an arrangement definite: confirm a booking.
  3. To make a belief or feeling stronger.
  4. To make something valid by a formal act; to ratify.
  5. To admit someone to full membership of a church by the rite of confirmation.

Word family

  • confirmability
  • confirmable
  • confirmer
  • confirmingly
  • preconfirm
  • unconfirm
  • reconfirm
  • confirmation
  • firm
  • affirm

Usage notes

Among its synonyms, confirm usually suggests removing all doubt about something that was uncertain, while corroborate means supporting a statement with further evidence, and substantiate means proving it with solid evidence.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin