confirm

English

Alternative forms

• confirme (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English confirmen, confermen, from Old French confermer, from Latin cōnfirmāre (“to make firm, strengthen, establish”), from con- (“together”) + firmāre (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈfɜːm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈfɝm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m
• Hyphenation: con‧firm

Verb

confirm (third-person singular simple present confirms, present participle confirming, simple past and past participle confirmed)

1. To strengthen; to make firm or resolute.
2. (transitive, Christianity) To administer the sacrament of confirmation on (someone).
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 215:

     She pulled through with the boy till he was confirmed; but then she told him that she could not feed him any longer; he would have to go out and earn his own bread.

   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 35:

     Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, was baptized and confirmed at the age of three days.

3. To assure the accuracy of previous statements.
   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Data Discs Codex entry:

     Despite all the evidence confirming the existence of the Protheans, little is known about their culture and society. From time to time, dig sites will yield new clues, but after 50,000 years of decay, little of value is unearthed.

   • 2019 March 18, Steven Pifer, Five years after Crimea’s illegal annexation, the issue is no closer to resolution‎, The Center for International Security and Cooperation:

     The little green men were clearly professional soldiers by their bearing, carried Russian weapons, and wore Russian combat fatigues, but they had no identifying insignia. Vladimir Putin originally denied they were Russian soldiers; that April, he confirmed they were.

   • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 53:

     Transport Minister Marples, meanwhile, used arrogant rhetoric and showed his personal contempt for railways when confirming in Parliament that a third of the network was to be closed even before the survey results were known.

Synonyms

• (strengthen): See also Thesaurus:strengthen

Antonyms

• infirm
• disconfirm
• deny
• dispute
• contradict
• question

Derived terms

• misconfirm
• reconfirm

Related terms

• confirmability
• confirmation

Descendants

• ⇒ Cantonese: firm (foem1)

Translations

See also

• verify
• corroborate
• establish
• prove

Adverb

confirm (not comparable)

1. (Singlish, Manglish) For sure, definitely.

   This is confirm not my handwriting.

   • 2006, DanielS, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

     That ex-lecturer-to-be confirm gone case liao.

Derived terms

• confirm plus chop

Further reading

• “confirm”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “confirm”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “confirm”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.