Where does “affirmative” come from?
Affirmative derives from Middle English affirmative, from Old French affirmatif, from Latin affirmativus, formed with the Latin suffix -ivus added to affirmare, itself from Latin ad- and firmare.
affirmative (English): pertaining to truth; asserting that something...
Definitions
- pertaining to truth; asserting that something...
Ancestry of “affirmative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | affirmative | — |
| 2 | Old French | affirmatif | — |
| 3 | Latin | affirmativus | affirming, affirmative |
| 4 | Latin | affirmō | to present (something) as fixed, firm, or true; affirm, assert, maintain |
| 5 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 6 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 7 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 8 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |