Where does “firm” come from?
Firm comes from Italian firma, from Latin firmare meaning to make firm, derived from Latin firmus meaning steady or strong, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰer-.
firm (English): A business partnership; the name under which it...
Definitions
- A business partnership; the name under which it...
Ancestry of “firm”, step by step
firm traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English ferme
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | ferme | A lease; the renting of land |
| 2 | Old French | ferme | lease; the land leased; farm |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | ferma | Alternative form of firma |
| 4 | Latin | Firma | tax, tribute |
| 5 | Latin | Firmus | strong, powerful |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | fermos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰer-mo-s | holding |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰer- | to support; to hold |
via Italian firma
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | firma | signature; third-person singular present... |
| 2 | Italian | firmare | to sign |
| 3 | Latin | firmō | to make firm, strengthen, harden, fortify |
| 4 | Latin | -ō | suffixed to nouns or adjectives. Originally a-stem nouns. Later extended to nouns with other stems. Forms regular first-conjugation verbs |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |