confirm

[ kuhn-furm ]
See synonyms for: confirmconfirmedconfirmingconfirms on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to establish the truth, accuracy, validity, or genuineness of; corroborate; verify: This report confirms my suspicions.

  2. to acknowledge with definite assurance: Did the hotel confirm our room reservation?

  1. to make valid or binding by some formal or legal act; sanction; ratify: to confirm a treaty;to confirm her appointment to the Supreme Court.

  2. to make firm or more firm; add strength to; settle or establish firmly: Their support confirmed my determination to run for mayor.

  3. to strengthen (a person) in habit, resolution, opinion, etc.: The accident confirmed him in his fear of driving.

  4. to administer the religious rite of confirmation to.

Origin of confirm

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Latin confirmāre “to strengthen, confirm” (see con-, firm1); replacing Middle English confermen, from Old French, from Latin, as above

Other words for confirm

Opposites for confirm

Other words from confirm

  • con·firm·a·ble, adjective
  • con·firm·a·bil·i·ty, noun
  • con·firm·er; Law. con·fir·mor [kon-fer-mawr, kuhn-fur-mer], /ˌkɒn fərˈmɔr, kənˈfɜr mər/, noun
  • con·firm·ing·ly, adverb
  • non·con·firm·ing, adjective
  • pre·con·firm, verb (used with object)
  • re·con·firm, verb (used with object)
  • un·con·firm, verb (used with object)
  • un·con·firm·a·bil·i·ty, noun

Words Nearby confirm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use confirm in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for confirm

confirm

/ (kənˈfɜːm) /


verb(tr)
  1. (may take a clause as object) to prove to be true or valid; corroborate; verify

  2. (may take a clause as object) to assert for a second or further time, so as to make more definite: he confirmed that he would appear in court

  1. to strengthen or make more firm: his story confirmed my doubts

  2. to make valid by a formal act or agreement; ratify

  3. to administer the rite of confirmation to

Origin of confirm

1
C13: from Old French confermer, from Latin confirmāre, from firmus firm 1

Derived forms of confirm

  • confirmable, adjective
  • confirmatory or confirmative, adjective
  • confirmer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012