Where does “confirm” come from?
Confirm comes from Middle English confirmen, from Old French confermer, from Latin confirmare, meaning to make firm or strengthen, formed from the prefix com- meaning together with the verb firmare.
confirm (English): To strengthen; to make firm or resolute; To...
Definitions
- To strengthen; to make firm or resolute; To...
Ancestry of “confirm”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | confirmen | — |
| 2 | Old French | confermer | to confirm |
| 3 | Latin | cōnfirmō | to make firm, establish, re-establish, strengthen, fortify, mature, confirm |
| 4 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 5 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 6 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 10 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 11 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 12 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 13 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 14 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |