Firm

How to spell firm

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce firm

What does firm mean?

1. adjectiveSolid and not easily moved, pressed, or changed.
2. nounA company or business, especially a partnership of professionals.
3. verbTo make or become more solid, stable, or settled.

Firm in a sentence

• adjective

  The mattress was too firm for her aching back.

• noun

  She joined a prestigious law firm after graduating.

• verb

  Gentle exercise can help firm the muscles over time.

• adjective

  He kept a firm grip on the railing during the storm.

• noun

  The accounting firm audited their finances every spring.

• verb

  The negotiators worked late to firm the terms of the deal.

Where does firm come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin firmus, which literally meant 'strong', 'steady', or 'durable', the same root that gives us 'affirm', 'confirm', and 'firmament'. English absorbed the adjective through Old French ferme during the 1300s, keeping the sense of something solid and not easily moved. The business meaning, a partnership or company trading under a particular name, arrived later in the 1700s by a different route: it came through Italian and Spanish firma, meaning a signature or the name one signed under, which itself grew from the Latin verb firmare 'to make firm or ratify'. So the steady adjective and the commercial noun are two branches from the very same Latin trunk, one stressing solidity and the other stressing a name made binding by signing. The simple four-letter spelling has stayed remarkably stable, which is why it rarely trips writers up.

How the word is built

• firm (from Latin firmus: strong, steadfast); single root, no affixes