Af-firm'1, v. t.
(18), v. t. [imp. & p. p. AFFIRMED; p. pr. & vb. n. AFFIRMING.] [Lat. affirmare, from ad and firmare, to make firm, firmus, firm, steadfast; Fr. affirmer, Pr. affermar, It. affermare, Sp. afirmar. See FIRM.]
Sense 1. To make firm; to establish, confirm, or ratify; as, the supreme court affirmed the judgment.
Sense 2. To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true;—opposed to deny.
Of one Jesus, . . . whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Acts xxv. 19.
Synonyms—To assert; aver; declare; asseverate; assure; pronounce; protest; avouch; confirm; establish; ratify.
—To AFFIRM, ASSEVERATE, AVER, PROTEST. We affirm when we declare a thing to be certain, and such as ought to be received on our credit. We asseverate it with increased positiveness as what can not be disputed. We aver it with solemnity, as if speaking in behalf of Truth herself. We protest it as what others around us can verify by their testimony. People asseverate in order to produce a conviction of their veracity; they aver when they are peculiarly desirous to be believed; they protest when they wish to free themselves from imputations, or to produce a conviction of their innocence.