confirm, v.
(kənˈfɜːm)
Forms: 3–6 conferme, 4–7 -firme, 6 -fyrme, 6– -firm.
[ME. conferme-n, a. OF. conferme-r:—L. confirmāre to make firm, strengthen, establish, etc., f. con- together, altogether + firmāre to strengthen, make fast, f. firm-us firm, fast. In 15th c. assimilated both in F. and Eng. to the L. spelling.
From 14th to 16th c. confirm and conform were often confused: see note to conform v. and cf. conformable, conformation, conformity. The following are examples of conform for confirm (conferm).
1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 213 And conformen [v.r. confermen, -firmen] fauntekynes. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 136 (Harl.) Eek sche Conformed [6-text confermed] was in such soverayn bounte.]
1. trans. To make firm or more firm, to add strength to, to settle, establish firmly.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 25390 (Cott.) Þis word amen..conferms al [is] forwit said. c 1300 Beket 430 Lawes ther beoth and custumes, that..bi the Kyng Henries dai..i-confermed were..that no man ther aȝe nas. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 191 Pite..His regne in good estate confermeth. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. v. 42 His alliance will confirme our peace. 1611 Bible 2 Kings xv. 19 That his hand might be with him, to confirm the kingdome in his hand. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Mark v. 34 To preserve it [health], to recover it, and to confirm it. 1822 Procter (B. Cornwall) Misc. Poems, Distance doth but confirm..a love sublime. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 207 To confirm his dominion by fortresses and garrisons. |
b. To establish by long continuance, render inveterate (a disease, etc.). See confirmed 1 b.
2. To make valid by formal authoritative assent (a thing already instituted or ordained); to ratify, sanction.
A charter was confirmed by being inspected, ratified, and sanctioned anew, by a successor of the original grantor.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 59/179 Seint Fraunceys..To confermi is ordre a-riȝht toward Rome he wende. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 324 [He] confermede al so Þe ȝeftes, þat oþer kynges hadde er yȝyue þerto. [1311–12 Charter (dated 23 Apr. 939) Cod. Dipl. V. 235 Ich æðelstan..grantye and confirmye by ðisse minre chartre.] c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 156 Oure haly fader þe Pape hase ratified and confermed my buke. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Confirmation Pref., They may then themselves..openly..ratify and confirm [1549 confess] the same [baptismal vows]. 1658 Bramhall Consecr. Bps. vii. 154 Paul 4. and Cardinall Poole..confirmed all Ordinations in Edward the sixths time indifferently. 1765 Blackstone Comm. i. i. 127 The great charter..obtained..from king John, and afterwards..confirmed in parliament by king Henry the third. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. 52 This moderate sentence was confirmed by the emperor. But it was not confirmed by the archbishop. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 147 Where a codicil ratifies and confirms a will. 185. Curtis Hist. Engl. 114 According to Sir Edward Coke it [Magna Charta] has been thirty-two times solemnly confirmed by acts of parliament. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. Eng. (1877) II. 141 The charters were confirmed by inspeximus on the 12th [Oct. 1297]; the king on the 5th of November at Ghent confirmed both the charters and the new articles. 1875 Public Health Act §184 Bye-laws made by a Local Authority..shall not take effect unless..confirmed by the Local Government Board. |
| fig. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 42 Dauid had so far forsaken God, as to confirme adulterie with murther. 1648 N. Estwick Treatise 8 Their passing through the Sea..did seal up, and..confirm that Moses was by the Lord deputed to bee..a Leader of his people. |
b. Const. a person to or in a dignity, position, etc.: to ratify the election or appointment of.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 473 Wan he were ichose in is chapele..Homage he solde him do, ar he confermed were. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxvi. 258 Tho that were chose to bisshoppes sees..myȝt be confermed to the same of hir metropolitanes. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. xi. 27 The kynge..confirmed him in the hye presthode. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1241/1 He was confirmed bishop of Couentrie. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. iii. 217 Hee's not confirm'd, we may deny him yet. 1712 Hearne Collect. III. 387 Yesterday Mr. John Keil was confirm'd in Congregation Professor of Geometry. 1803 Nelson 5 Nov. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) V. 1803, I congratulate you on being confirmed and..I shall be glad to put you into a good Frigate. 1886 Yule & Burnell Anglo-Ind. Wds., Confirmed, applied to an officer whose hold of an appointment is made permanent. |
c. Const. (a possession, title, etc.) to a person: to ratify the presentation or bestowal of.
| c 1325 Coer de L. 3664 Make hym Sawdoun..and rycheste kyng: Confirme it hym and hys ofspring. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 112 Þe kyng for his seruise confermed his gyft. 1574 tr. Littleton's Tenures 106 a, If I by my dede confirme y⊇ estate of y⊇ tenant for terme of yeres. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 172 Confirme the Crowne to me and to mine Heires. 1794 Paley Evid. ii. vi. (1817) 134 Claudius..confirmed to Agrippa the dominion which Caligula had given him. 1851 Turner Dom. Archit. II. ii. 48 The Church of St. Olave, Southwark, was confirmed to the prior and convent of St. Pancras, of Lewes. |
3. To make firm, strengthen, establish (any one in a habit, practice, disposition, etc.).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 500 (Cott.) Þai [angels] ware confermed þar als tite, Þai mai neuermar held til il. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 136 She Confermed was in swich souerayn bountee That, etc. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle ii. lii. (1859) 54 He was confermyd in malyce. 1549 Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 20 To confirme them in the same fayeth. 1718 Free-thinker No. 61. 38 [He] has employed his Time..only to confirm Himself in Absurdities. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. li, Perhaps..To laugh him out of his supposed dismay..Perhaps..to confirm him in it. |
4. To strengthen spiritually.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter l. [li] 13 Conferme we wyþ þyn holy gost. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Confirmation, Confirm and strength them with the inward unction of thy Holy Ghost. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest §121 Men whose passions were tempered, and whose hearts confirmed, in the calm of these holy places. |
5. Eccl. To administer the religious rite of confirmation to; formerly ‘to bishop’.
| c 1315 Shoreham 15 The bisschop these wordes seth..‘Ich signi the with signe of croys, And with the creme of hele Confermi’. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 449 Til it be crystened in crystes name and confermed of þe bisshop, It is hethene as to heueneward. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. iv. (1520) 32/1 He ordeyned that a chylde sholde be confyrmed as soone as it myght, namely after it was crystened. 1494 Fabyan v. cxxxi. 114 This chylde..was brought to the holy bissop Amandus to be confermed, beyng than of the age of xl. dayes. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Confirmation Pref., It is thought good, that none hereafter shall be confirmed, but such as can say..the Articles of the Faith, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; and can also answer to [the] questions of this short Catechism. 1732 Neal Hist. Purit. I. 238 They disliked the Custom of confirming Children, as soon as they could repeat the Lord's Prayer and their Catechism. 1863 Miss Sewell Glimpse of World vi. 45 ‘She has been treated quite like a grown-up girl,’ continued Mrs. Cameron..‘You know we had her confirmed last year.’ 1885 Arnold Cath. Dict. s.v. Confirmation, The Greeks and Orientals give it immediately after baptism, and in the West down to the thirteenth century a child was confirmed as soon after baptism as possible..But the Roman Catechism advises that confirmation should not be given till the age of reason. |
| absol. 1750 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 169 The Lord Bishop of Chester is to..confirm in this town. |
6. To make firm, fortify, encourage, strengthen (in an opinion, action, or purpose).
| 1485 Caxton St. Wenefr. 17 Go ye confermed by the lycence of myn auctorite. 1648 Milton Tenure Kings (1650) 15 These words [Deut. xvii. 14] confirm us that the right of choosing, yea of changing their own Government, is..in the People. 1715 Pope Iliad ii. 228 Warriours like you..By brave examples should confirm the rest. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 168 ¶5 When Mackbeth is confirming himself in the horrid purpose. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. v. 29 He was confirmed in this opinion. |
† b. refl. and pass. To be firmly resolved. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxiv. 1 The king of Babiloyne is confermyd aȝens Jerusalem to day. c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶811, I assente and conferme me to have pees. a 1658 Ford, etc. Witch Edm. i. i, I am confirm'd, and will resolve to do What you think most behoveful. |
7. To corroborate, or add support to (a statement, etc.); to make certain, verify, put beyond doubt.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 253 To confirme my reasoun Thou wost wel this. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 53 To conferme this..oure Lorde hathe shewed his myracles in these two chirches. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., This reason is confyrmed by an example y{supt} Henry de Maundeuille putteth. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. i. 21 Hauing no witnesse to confirme my speech. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 305 ¶4 The News..has not been yet confirmed. 1837 Disraeli Venetia iv. iii, Her altered habits confirmed the suspicion. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 29 The testimony of Xenophon is thus confirmed by that of Plato. |
† b. with obj. and inf. compl. Obs. rare.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 32 These and such like..are confirmed to be unhonest. |
† 8. To affirm, assert, maintain that. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 258 Ȝif þe chirche of þes prelatis confermen þat þis is þe gospel of crist. c 1540 Pilgr. T. 276 With an othe confirmid and said, that I had rehersid nothing but popry. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 42 Doth not Aristotle alledge and confirme, that Nature frameth..nothing..vnperfect. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iii. iii. 135, I am not of their opinion who confirme that this Spirit is Generated in..the Brain. |
† 9. To make quite sure in an opinion or as to a matter; to assure, make certain, convince. Obs.
| 1607 B. Jonson Volpone ii. i. 39 Pray you, sir, confirm me, Were there three porpoises seen above the bridge, As they give out? 1622 Fletcher Beggar's Bush i. i, We are all confirm'd 'twas a sought quarrel. 1638 Ford Fancies v. i, I am confirm'd the lady, By this time, proves his scorn as well as laughter. 1707 E. Ward Hudibras Rediv. (1715) ii. ix, The Battel they had won Confirm'd them all was now their own. 1722 E. Haywood Brit. Recluse 125 If before..I thought these Ladies were mistaken, I was now confirm'd they were so. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. IV. 309 The ministry was no sooner confirmed in the account of his arrival..than, etc. |
† 10. To strengthen, invigorate; to make firm, support (physically). Obs.
| 1542 Boorde Dyetary xi. (1870) 261 Good breade doth comforte, confyrme and doth stablysshe a mannes herte. 1578 Banister Hist. Man iii. 42 [Ligaments] issue out..from the hinder part of the Spondilles..to confirme the Vertebres. 1611 Bible Isa. xxxv. 3 Confirme the feeble knees. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 74 This way of confirming great Stones in Buildings. 1682 N. O. tr. Boileau's Lutrin iii. 114 A Truncheon strong Confirms his staggering steps. 1715–20 Pope Iliad v. 155 His nerves confirm'd, his languid spirits chear'd. |
† 11. To make firm in consistence; to solidify. Obs. rare.
| 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies Pref., That the Ghosts assum'd an aiery..body to appear in, which was confirm'd by the cold of the night. |