firm

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See also: Firm.

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Italian firma (“signature”), from firmare (“to sign”), from Latin firmāre (“to make firm, to confirm (by signature)”), from firmus (“firm, stable”). The contemporary sense developed in the 18th century simultaneously with German Firma (“business, name of business”). There are conflicting statements in the literature as to which of the two languages influenced which. Doublet of dharma and dhamma. Other cognates include Russian держать (deržatʹ, “to hold”).

Noun

firm (plural firms)

  1. (UK, business) A business partnership; the name under which it trades.
  2. (business, economics) A business enterprise, however organized.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:enterprise
    • 2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:
      Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. […] Banks and credit-card firms are kept out of the picture. Talk to enough people in the field and someone is bound to mention the “democratisation of finance”.
  3. (slang) A criminal gang, especially based around football hooliganism.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

From Middle English ferme, from Old French ferme, from Latin firmus (“strong, steady”). Doublet of dharma.

Adjective

firm (comparative firmer, superlative firmest)

  1. Steadfast, secure, solid (in position)
    It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.
  2. Fixed (in opinion).
    a firm believer; a firm friend; a firm adherent
    firm favourites
    • 2012 May 9, John Percy, “Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report”, in the Telegraph‎:
      With such constant off-field turmoil Hughton’s work has been remarkable and this may have been his last game in charge. West Bromwich Albion, searching for a replacement for Roy Hodgson, are firm admirers.
  3. Insistent upon something, not accepting dissent.
    He wanted to stay overnight, but I was firm with him and said he had to leave today.
  4. Durable, rigid (material state).
    firm flesh; firm muscles, firm wood; firm land (i.e. not soft and marshy)
  5. Mentally resistant to hurt or stress.
  6. Not frivolous or fallacious; trustworthy; solid; dependable.
    • 1988 April 23, Elizabeth Pincus, “Moving To Meet The Needs Of Women In The Age Of AIDS”, in Gay Community News, page 7:
      Although facilitators of the workshop for lesbians and bisexual women attempted to address the concerns of lesbians, little firm information emerged.
    • 1999, Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos:
      None of the Aramaic inscriptions from the Hellenistic and Roman period that are cited in support of this hypothesis that divine messengers are identified with their sender provide any firm proof to this respect.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adverb

firm (comparative more firm, superlative most firm)

  1. (now rare) firmly, steadily
Translations
firmly — see firmly

Etymology 3

From Middle English fermen (“to make firm”), partly from (either through Old French fermer or directly) Latin firmō, from firmus (“firm”, adjective), and partly a new formation on the adjective.

Verb

firm (third-person singular simple present firms, present participle firming, simple past and past participle firmed)

  1. (transitive) To make firm or strong; fix securely.
  2. (transitive) To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
  3. (intransitive) To become firm; stabilise.
  4. (intransitive) To improve after decline.
  5. (intransitive, Australia) To shorten (of betting odds).
  6. (transitive, UK, slang) To select (a higher education institution) as one's preferred choice, so as to enrol automatically if one's grades match the conditional offer.
Derived terms
Translations

References

  1. ^ James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Firm (fə̄ɹm), v.”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes IV (F–G), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 248, column 3.

Further reading

Anagrams

Chinese

Etymology 1

From English firm.

Pronunciation

Adjective

firm (Hong Kong Cantonese)

  1. (of muscles) firm; strong; solid
  2. firm; insistent
  3. (neologism) awesome; fantastic; amazing; terrific
  4. (neologism, of relationship between friends) close; intimate
Derived terms

Noun

firm

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) firm; business (Classifier: 間／间 c)

Etymology 2

Clipping of English confirm.

Pronunciation

Verb

firm

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to confirm; to finalize

Adjective

firm

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) sure; certain
Derived terms

References

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin firmus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

firm (strong nominative masculine singular firmer, comparative firmer, superlative am firmsten)

  1. (somewhat dated) experienced, well versed
    Synonyms: erfahren, bewandert
    • 1976 March 12, Heidi Dürr, “Kunstkenner per Post?”, in Die Zeit‎:
      Er, der—laut Prospekt—wie alle Mitarbeiter “eine hohe fachliche Qualifikation” aufweist und die Gewähr dafür bietet, “daß Sie Ihr Studienziel erreichen, ein Kenner antiker Gegenstände zu werden”, ist nach eigener Aussage lediglich Fachmann für Malerei und Graphik. Auf anderen Gebieten sei er gar “nicht so firm”.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Positive forms of firm
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist firm sie ist firm es ist firm sie sind firm
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative firmer firme firmes firme
genitive firmen firmer firmen firmer
dative firmem firmer firmem firmen
accusative firmen firme firmes firme
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der firme die firme das firme die firmen
genitive des firmen der firmen des firmen der firmen
dative dem firmen der firmen dem firmen den firmen
accusative den firmen die firme das firme die firmen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein firmer eine firme ein firmes (keine) firmen
genitive eines firmen einer firmen eines firmen (keiner) firmen
dative einem firmen einer firmen einem firmen (keinen) firmen
accusative einen firmen eine firme ein firmes (keine) firmen
Comparative forms of firm
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist firmer sie ist firmer es ist firmer sie sind firmer
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative firmerer firmere firmeres firmere
genitive firmeren firmerer firmeren firmerer
dative firmerem firmerer firmerem firmeren
accusative firmeren firmere firmeres firmere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der firmere die firmere das firmere die firmeren
genitive des firmeren der firmeren des firmeren der firmeren
dative dem firmeren der firmeren dem firmeren den firmeren
accusative den firmeren die firmere das firmere die firmeren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein firmerer eine firmere ein firmeres (keine) firmeren
genitive eines firmeren einer firmeren eines firmeren (keiner) firmeren
dative einem firmeren einer firmeren einem firmeren (keinen) firmeren
accusative einen firmeren eine firmere ein firmeres (keine) firmeren
Superlative forms of firm
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist am firmsten sie ist am firmsten es ist am firmsten sie sind am firmsten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative firmster firmste firmstes firmste
genitive firmsten firmster firmsten firmster
dative firmstem firmster firmstem firmsten
accusative firmsten firmste firmstes firmste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der firmste die firmste das firmste die firmsten
genitive des firmsten der firmsten des firmsten der firmsten
dative dem firmsten der firmsten dem firmsten den firmsten
accusative den firmsten die firmste das firmste die firmsten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein firmster eine firmste ein firmstes (keine) firmsten
genitive eines firmsten einer firmsten eines firmsten (keiner) firmsten
dative einem firmsten einer firmsten einem firmsten (keinen) firmsten
accusative einen firmsten eine firmste ein firmstes (keine) firmsten

Related terms

Further reading

  • “firm” in Duden online
  • “firm” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Polish

Pronunciation

Noun

firm f

  1. genitive plural of firma

Zoogocho Zapotec

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish firma.

Noun

firm

  1. signature
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish firme.

Adjective

firm

  1. firm, fixed

References

  • Long C., Rebecca, Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)‎ (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 220
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