confirmation

[kon-fer-mey-shuhn]

noun

1. an act or instance of confirming, or of establishing someone or something, as by verifying, approving, or corroborating.

   The study is an attempt at the scientific confirmation of previous anecdotal results.

   The nomination and confirmation of this candidate as Court of Appeals Judge is a step in the right direction.

2. Religion.

   1. a rite in some Christian churches, in which baptized individuals profess their faith, are accorded status as full members, and, in some denominations, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

   2. a solemn ceremony among Reform and certain Conservative Jews, admitting young people to adult membership in the Jewish community after completion of a prescribed course of study.

3. something that confirms, confirm, as a corroborative statement or piece of evidence.

   His birth certificate served as confirmation of his citizenship.

confirmation

/ ˌkɒnfəˈmeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of confirming

2. something that confirms; verification

3. a rite in several Christian churches that confirms a baptized person in his or her faith and admits him or her to full participation in the church

4. (in the philosophy of science) the relationship between an observation and the theory which it supposedly renders more probable Compare hypothetico-deductive

Other Word Forms

• confirmational adjective
• nonconfirmation noun
• preconfirmation noun
• reconfirmation noun
• self-confirmation noun
• superconfirmation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of confirmation¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French and Latin confirmātiōn-, stem of confirmātiō; confirm, -ation

Example Sentences

In response to an AFP query, the Israeli military said to await official confirmation.

Read more on Barron's

With its focus on what he labeled a “dictatorship” of wealth inequality, the document was seen by some on the right as confirmation of Leo’s condemnation of American conservatism.

Read more on Salon

U.S. attorney positions are subject to Senate confirmation.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“As a result,” the New York Times reported after his 97-0 confirmation by the Senate in February 1988, “senators have been free to project their own hopes and views onto a somewhat ambiguous record.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Whether it signals a genuine change of view or a confirmation of the increasingly uncertain economic outlook confronting all Fed officials remains to be seen.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• acceptance 
• admission 
• affirmation 
• approval 
• authorization 
• consent 
• corroboration 
• endorsement 
• evidence 
• green light 
• passage 
• recognition 
• testimony 
• verification