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firm

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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.
  • 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)