affermare

Forms

affermare (first-person singular present afférmo, first-person singular past historic affermài, past participle affermàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin affirmō (“to strengthen; to assert”), made of ad- and firmō (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”).^[2][3][4][5] DELI calls it learned and Nocentini a borrowing from Latin.^[2][3] The GDLI adds that it spread with the language of scholastic logic and philosophy.^[6]

The LEI instead counts it among the words that continue the Latin verb, beside Old French afermer (1119), Old Occitan afermar and Catalan afermar.^[7] For the LEI only the form Old Italian affirmare is a Latinism, like French affirmer and Spanish afirmar.^[7]

The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *fermo- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo- (“holding”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Patecchio's Splanamento, from Cremona, early in the 13th century, where it means to assert something as true.^[9][7] DELI's first dates are in Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, for “to declare as certain” and “to say yes”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Guittone writes a postutto t'afermo, “I tell you for certain”.^[6] In Old Italian the verb also meant to swear to something, to approve, to prove by argument, to guarantee and to make stronger.^[9] The sense “to strengthen” grew rare after the 14th century.^[7] Dante condemns the fool who senza distinzione afferma o niega, who affirms or denies without distinguishing.^[10]

The reflexive affermarsi “to grow stronger” is in the Palladio translation of 1340.^[2] Its modern sense, “to make one's name, to succeed”, is recorded in 1884, and the LEI suggests a semantic loan from French s'affirmer.^[2][7] The noun affermazione followed with the sense “success, victory” in 1923, and affermato “well known, established” in 1955.^[2]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Patecchio's Splanamento at Cremona.^[9][7]
• Before 1274 – Affermazione is recorded.^[3]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses affermare for “to declare as certain”.^[2]
• 1304 – Affermativo in Giordano da Pisa.^[2]
• 1340 – The reflexive affermarsi “to grow stronger”.^[2]
• 1884 – Affermarsi “to make one's name”.^[2]
• 1923 – Affermazione “success, victory”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To state openly and firmly, to give as certain, with di and an infinitive or che: assert, affirm: Il testimone affermò di non conoscerlo.^[4][11][12]
2. (intransitive) To say yes, to nod assent.^[4][12][13]
3. To uphold, to claim (a right).^[4][11][13]
4. (obsolete) To strengthen, to make firm.^[12][14]
5. (reflexive) affermarsi: to make one's name, to succeed, to win in a contest.^[11][12][15]
6. (reflexive, of things) affermarsi: to catch on, to spread.^[11][15][13]

Word family

• affermazione
• affermativo
• affermato
• affermabile
• affermatore
• riaffermare
• raffermare

Related words

• fermo
• French affirmer

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1230
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli