Confirm
verbTo establish the truth or certainty of something, or to make an arrangement definite.
How to spell confirm
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce confirm
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does confirm mean?
- verbTo establish the truth or certainty of something, or to make an arrangement definite.
Confirm in a sentence
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Please confirm your attendance before the deadline.
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The airline will confirm your booking by email.
Where does confirm come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word comes from the Latin confirmare, meaning 'to strengthen' or 'to establish firmly', built from the intensive prefix con- (thoroughly) and firmare 'to make strong', which itself derives from firmus, meaning 'strong, steady, or solid'. The same firmus root gives us the everyday words 'firm' and 'firmament'. English took the word in during the 1200s through Old French confermer, at first carrying senses of making something secure or ratifying it. Over time the meaning settled into the modern idea of verifying that something is true or definite. The spelling trap lives in the middle: a single 'n' after 'co', and the ending is 'irm' (matching 'firm'), not 'irme' or 'urm'.
How the word is built
- con- (intensive: thoroughly)
- firm (from Latin firmus: strong, steady)
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