Confirm, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Confrmed; p.pr. & vb.n. Confirming.]
Etymology: [OE. confermen, confirmen, OF. confermer, F. confirmer, fr. L. confirmare; con- + firmare to make firm, fr. firmus firm. See Firm.]
1. To make firm or firmer; to add strength to; to establish; as, health is confirmed by exercise. Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs. Shak. Annd confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law. Ps. cv. 10.
2. To strengthen in judgment or purpose. Confirmed, then, I resolve Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe. Milton.
3. To give new assurance of the truth of; to render certain; to verify; to corroborate; as, to confirm a rumor. Your eyes shall witness and confirm my tale. Pope. These likelihoods confirm her flight. Shak.
4. To render valid by formal assent; to complete by a necessary sanction; to ratify; as, to confirm the appoinment of an official; the Senate confirms a treaty. That treaty so prejudicial ought to have been remitted rather than confimed. Swift.
3 more senses
5. (Eccl.)
To administer the rite of confirmation to. See Confirmation, 3. Those which are thus confirmed are thereby supposed to be fit for admission to the sacrament. Hammond.
Syn. -- To strengthen; corroborate; substantiate; establish; fix; ratify; settle; verify; assure.
Shades of meaning
Confirm (L. con, together, and firmus, firm) is to add firmness or give stability to. Both confirm and corroborate presuppose something already existing to which the confirmation or corroboration is added. Testimony is corroborated by concurrent testimony or by circumstances; confirmed by established facts. That which is thoroughly proved is said to be established; so is that which is official and has adequate power behind it; as, the established government; the established church. The continents are fixed. A treaty is ratified; an appointment confirmed. An act is sanctioned by any person or authority that passes upon it approvingly. A statement is substantiated; a report confirmed; a controversy settled; the decision of a lower court sustained by a higher. Just government should be upheld. The beneficent results of Christianity confirm our faith in it as a divine revelation.
Prepositions
Confirm a statement by testimony; confirm a person in a belief.