firm
verb
- to make or become secure, steadfast, resilient
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L333616 on Wikidata ↗adjective
- strong, unlikely to be swayed
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L4079 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /fɜːm/ / /fɜɹm/ / [fɚm]
adj
Etymology: From Middle English ferme, from Old French ferme, from Latin firmus (“strong, steady”). Doublet of dharma.
- Steadfast, secure, solid (in position)
“It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.”
- Fixed (in opinion).
“a firm believer; a firm friend; a firm adherent”
“firm favourites”
- Insistent upon something, not accepting dissent.
“He wanted to stay overnight, but I was firm with him and said he had to leave today.”
- Durable, rigid (material state).
“firm flesh; firm muscles, firm wood; firm land (i.e. not soft and marshy)”
“Biblical criteria of sexual seductiveness include a white skin, black hair, or henna-dyed, scarlet lips, a prominent nose, rosy temples, long straight neck, firm breasts, round thighs, an erect posture.”
- Mentally resistant to hurt or stress.
“[…] The life that almost dies in me: That dies not, but endures with pain, And slowly forms the firmer mind, Treasuring the look it cannot find, The words that are not heard again.”
- Not frivolous or fallacious; trustworthy; solid; dependable.
“Although facilitators of the workshop for lesbians and bisexual women attempted to address the concerns of lesbians, little firm information emerged.”
“None of the Aramaic inscriptions from the Hellenistic and Roman period that are cited in support of this hypothesis that divine messengers are identified with their sender provide any firm proof to this respect.”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English ferme, from Old French ferme, from Latin firmus (“strong, steady”). Doublet of dharma.
- firmly, steadily
noun
Etymology: From Italian firma (“signature”), from firmare (“to sign”), from Latin firmāre (“to make firm, to confirm (by signature)”), from firmus (“firm, stable”). The contemporary sense developed in the 18th century simultaneously with German Firma (“business, name of business”). There are conflicting statements in the literature as to which of the two languages influenced which. Doublet of dharma and dhamma. Other cognates include Russian держать (deržatʹ, “to hold”).
- A business partnership; the name under which it trades.
- A business enterprise, however organized.
“Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms.[…]Banks and credit-card firms are kept out of the picture. Talk to enough people in the field and someone is bound to mention the “democratisation of finance”.”
- A criminal gang, especially based around football hooliganism.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English fermen (“to make firm”), partly from (either through Old French fermer or directly) Latin firmō, from firmus (“firm”, adjective), and partly a new formation on the adjective.
- To make firm or strong; fix securely.
“Stolz said the move by ClubsNSW had only firmed his resolve to keep fighting for the right to disclose information in the public interest about money laundering in registered clubs.”
- To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
- To become firm; stabilise.
- To improve after decline.
- To shorten (of betting odds).
- To grit one's teeth and bear; to push through something unpleasant.
“I know you aren't feeling well, but just firm it.”
- To select (a higher education institution) as one's preferred choice, so as to enrol automatically if one's grades match the conditional offer.