Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “affirming” come from?

Affirming comes from Middle English affirmen, from Old French afermer, from Latin affirmare, composed of the prefix ad- and the verb firmare meaning to strengthen.

affirming (English): present participle of affirm; The act of one who...

Definitions

  1. present participle of affirm; The act of one who...

Ancestry of “affirming”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishaffermynge—
2Middle English-yngeAlternative form of -ing
3Old English-ungforming nouns from verbs, denoting verbal action...
4Proto-Germanic-ungō-ing, -ion. "Forms gerund nouns from verbs."
Every word from Proto-Germanic -ungō →