affirmer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.fiʁ.me/^[1]

Forms

affirmer^[1] Old French afermer, affermer (about 1100), used until the 16th century;^[2][3][4] affirmer from the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a remodelling (13th century) of Old French afermer, both forms borrowed from Latin affirmō (“to strengthen; to affirm”), formed on fīrmus (“firm”), the source of ferme.^[2][5][1][6] Littré explains that affermer, the form following French sound habits, was used throughout the old language, and that the modern form won in the 17th century, probably to distinguish it from the verb meaning “to lease”.^[3] Cognate with Old Occitan affermar, Spanish afirmar and Italian affermare.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old French afermer first meant to make firm, consolidate (1080), later replaced by affermir, and, from 1119 to assert that something is true; the form affirmer is recorded about 1230, and in 1276 in a criminal register of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The forms afirmer, affirmer and afermer, affermer coexisted in the abstract sense “to state with certainty” until the 16th century.^[2][3] The concrete sense “to make firm” survives only as a literary archaism.^[7] The pronominal s'affirmer, to show itself, is recorded in the mid-19th century (Proudhon), and is also used for a feeling growing stronger and for a person asserting his personality.^[2][4] Related words are affirmatif (13th century) and affirmation (1313).^[5]

Timeline

• 1080 – Afermer “to consolidate”.^[2]
• 1119 – “To assert as true”.^[2]
• c. 1230 – The form affirmer.^[5]
• 1313 – Affirmation.^[5]
• 17th century – Affirmer replaces affermer.^[3]
• Mid-19th century – S'affirmer, in Proudhon.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To assert, state as true: j'affirme qu'il ment, je l'affirme sur l'honneur.^[8][1]
2. To show clearly, make manifest: affirmer sa personnalité, son indépendance.^[4][8]
3. S'affirmer: to assert oneself; to become stronger or more evident.^[2][4]
4. (literary, archaic) To make firm, consolidate.^[7]

Related words

• affermir
• ferme
• confirmer
• Latin affirmō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 251b
7. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert