Etymologically
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confermare

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Pronunciation

  • /kon.ferˈma.re/[1]

Forms

confermare (first-person singular present conférmo, first-person singular past historic confermài, past participle confermàto, auxiliary avére)[1] The old learned form, closer to Latin, is Old Italian confirmare.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōnfirmāre (“to strengthen; to ratify”), formed with con- on firmō (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm, stable”).[6][7][3][1] The LEI counts the form with e among the popular continuations of the Latin verb and the old form with i among the learned ones;[5][8][9] Nocentini calls the verb a loan from Latin, and Battaglia's dictionary (GDLI) a learned word.[5][8][9]

The Latin verb lived on in popular form in its legal sense in Old French confermer and Romansh confermar; French confirmer, Spanish confirmar and Portuguese confirmar keep the Latin vowel.[5][8]

Latin firmus goes back to Proto-Italic *fermo- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo- (“holding”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“to hold”) that also gave Sanskrit धर्मन् (dhárman, “support; law”).[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Venetian treaty with the Sultan of Aleppo of 1207–1208, in the legal sense “to declare valid, ratify”.[11][5] DELI's first dates are Bono Giamboni (before 1292) for “to prove” and Brunetto Latini (before 1294) for “to restate firmly”.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb meant above all to make firmer: to strengthen a bond, a hope or a person in their faith, as in Dante's Convivio (1304–1307), where friendship is “confirmed” by long familiarity.[5][9] Bartolomeo da San Concordio (before 1347) writes that art and study confirm and increase the gifts of nature.[6][9] The legal sense “to ratify” and “to keep someone in office” go back to the 13th century.[11][6]

The religious sense “to administer confirmation” comes from Carolingian church Latin; the noun confermazione had it before 1292.[5][6] In horsemanship confermare la bocca del cavallo, to continue training a horse to the bit, is probably a semantic calque of French.[5] The modern everyday senses are “to prove right” (i fatti confermano) and “to reaffirm, to confirm a booking or an invitation”.[7][2]

Timeline

  • 1207–1208 – A Venetian treaty with the Sultan of Aleppo has the first record.[11]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses confermare for “to prove”.[6]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “to restate firmly”.[6]
  • 1304–1307 – Dante's Convivio uses it for “to strengthen”.[5]
  • Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses it for “to make more stable”.[6]
  • Before 1600 – The noun conferma is recorded in Bernardo Davanzati.[6]
  • 1772 – Confermare la bocca del cavallo appears in a horsemanship dictionary.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To confirm, to prove true or correct: Le analisi hanno confermato la diagnosi.[7][2][3][1]
  2. To repeat or renew in order to make certain; to confirm (an appointment, an invitation): Ti confermo che arrivo domani.[7][2][3]
  3. To ratify, to uphold (a decision): La corte ha confermato la condanna.[7][2][4]
  4. To keep someone in a post: L'hanno confermato allenatore per un altro anno.[7][2][12]
  5. To strengthen (a feeling, a suspicion); to make someone firmer in a belief or intention.[7][2][4]
  6. (banking) Of a bank, to add its own undertaking to a letter of credit opened by another.[7][3][12]
  7. (religion) To administer confirmation to.[7][12][4]
  8. Confermarsi: to prove oneself again, to show once more one's qualities: Si è confermata la migliore della squadra.[2][12][4]

Word family

  • conferma
  • confermativo
  • confermazione
  • riconfermare

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1411
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 517
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli