firm

English has two words spelled firm: the adjective “fixed, solid”, from Latin firmus, and the noun “business”, which comes from the same Latin word by way of Italian or Spanish firma “signature”.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /fɜːm/, US /fɝːm/^[4]

firm¹ solid

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Middle English ferm,^[5][1] borrowed from Old French ferme (“strong, steadfast”),^[5][1] from Latin firmus (“strong, stable”),^[5][1] from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *dher- (“to hold firmly, support”).^[5][1] The spelling with -i- was restored after Latin in the late 16th century.^[5][2] The verb, Middle English fermen, is from Old French fermer or directly from Latin firmāre (“to make firm”).^[5][1] Barnhart compares Latin frētus “relying on” and Greek thrónos “seat”, as does Merriam-Webster.^[1][6] Latin firmus is also the source of farm.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of agreements and decrees, “fixed, settled”, and of persons, “steadfast”: about 1374.^[7] Etymonline dates the adjective to the late 14th century,^[5] Barnhart to about 1378, in Piers Plowman.^[1] The verb, “to make firm, establish”, is from 1303.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

Senses of steadfastness and of things settled came first; the physical senses are recorded later in the OED, “not shaking” from 1593, “securely fixed” from 1597 and “of solid texture, not yielding” from 1611.^[7] Hoad dates “fixed, immovable” to the 14th century and “stable, not yielding” to the 15th.^[2] “Healthy, robust”, as in infirm, is from 1577 and probably obsolete.^[7] The intransitive verb, “to become firm”, is from 1879, and firm up from 1956.^[5] Of prices and markets, the verb means to recover or steady.^[8]

Timeline

• 1303 – verb, to establish.^[1][7]
• c. 1374 – adjective, fixed, settled.^[7]
• 1377 – of a person, steadfast.^[7]
• late 16th century – spelling firm.^[5]
• 1611 – of solid texture.^[7]
• 1879 – verb, to become firm.^[5]
• 1956 – firm up.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Solid; not yielding to pressure.
2. Securely fixed in place; stable.
3. Showing determination; resolute.
4. Fixed and definite: a firm offer.
5. Steady in value: firm prices.

Verb

1. To make or become firm, often with up.
2. To recover from a decline in price.

Adverb

1. Firmly, resolutely: stand firm.

Word family

• firmly
• firmness
• firm up

firm² business

Etymology

The business is borrowed from Italian firma (“signature”) or Spanish firma,^[2][9][6] from Medieval Latin firma,^[2] from Latin firmāre (“to make firm”), in Late Latin “to confirm by signature”,^[5][2] from firmus (“strong, stable”).^[5][1] Barnhart traces the business sense to German Firma (“a business, name of a business”), from Italian firma.^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A signature: 1574, now obsolete.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

From a signature the word came to mean the name or style under which a business is carried on, from the mid-18th century,^[3][2] and then the business itself.^[3] A partnership carrying on a business is recorded in 1744.^[7][1] Sarcastic use of a group of people seen as associated is from before 1797.^[7] A long firm is a group of swindlers who obtain goods on credit and never pay, from 1869.^[7]

Timeline

• 1574 – a signature.^[7][6]
• 1744 – a business partnership.^[7][1]
• 1869 – long firm.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A business or company, especially a partnership of two or more people.
2. (British slang) A gang of criminals.

Related words

• farm
• throne
• affirm
• confirm
• infirmary

Usage notes

In Lincolnshire, Sussex and Somerset dialect a firm was a bench or form.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)