affirmatio

Forms

affirmātiō f (genitive affirmātiōnis); third declension^[1] Also spelled adfirmātiō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin affirmō + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb meaning “to strengthen, assert”.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it for a positive statement, an affirmation: in De officiis he defines an oath as a solemn affirmation.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The OLD gives four senses: a strengthening of belief or confirmation, a definite statement, the statement itself, and confident or vigorous assertion, as in Seneca the Elder.^[2] Caesar uses it of someone's assurance about a matter.^[3] Rhetoricians, grammarians and logicians used it as a technical term, the counterpart of negation;^[4] Isidore renders the Greek cataphasis with it.^[4]

Eriugena paired affirmatio and negatio for the two parts of theology.^[5] Niermeyer adds medieval senses: the authentication of a written record by touching it, and confirmation or sanction.^[6] English borrowed it in the early 15th century, through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero defines an oath as a solemn affirmation.^[3][8]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of an assurance.^[3][8]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore uses it for the Greek term for affirmation in logic.^[4][8]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as affirmation.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A strengthening of belief, confirmation, support.^[2]
2. A definite or positive statement, an assertion.^[2][3]
3. Confident or vigorous assertion, emphasis.^[2]
4. (logic, rhetoric) Affirmation as opposed to negation.^[4][5]
5. (Medieval Latin) The authentication of a written record by touching it; confirmation, sanction.^[6]

Related words

• English affirmation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de