affirms

Affirms is the third-person singular present tense of the verb affirm. It means to declare something to be true, to assert or support a claim, statement, or belief, or to confirm the truth or validity of something. The sense can range from giving assurance or confidence to upholding a proposition, decision, or policy.

Etymology and usage

Affirm derives from the Latin affirmare, from ad- “toward” plus firmare “to make firm,” with early Middle English attestations in affirmen. In modern English, affirms is used both in everyday language and in formal or professional contexts, including law, journalism, education, and personal discourse.

Grammatical notes

Affirms governs a direct object, as in “She affirms her commitment,” or “The report affirms the conclusion.” The base form is affirm; past tense is affirmed; the present participle is affirming. The noun forms are affirmation or, in legal contexts, affirmance.

Legal and formal senses

In legal writing, to affirm a court ruling means to uphold it on appeal, rather than to reverse it. This use is common in appellate decisions and official summaries. More broadly, to affirm a policy or principle is to endorse it as correct or valid.

Related concepts

Affirm is closely related to synonyms such as confirm, assert, maintain, and uphold. It also relates to the noun affirmation, which denotes the act of affirming or the statement that something is true, and to the related psychological concept of self-affirmation.