affirmationn.
/ˌafəˈmeɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌæfərˈmeɪʃən/ 1. The action of confirming something established; confirmation, corroboration, support; spec. ratification of a law, etc.; the upholding of a legal decision. Also: an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > [noun] > by validation
affirmationc1419
confirmation1419
certificatec1508
confirmance1588
validation1656
ascertainment1657
determinationa1676
firmation1684
ascertaining1685
fact-checking1936
the mind > language > statement > maintaining or upholding as true > [noun] > a statement of one's own
affirmation?1531
society > law > rule of law > [noun] > validity or legal force > validation or ratification
confirming1297
confirmment1297
confirmation1382
corroborating1530
corroboration1549
confirmance1588
vesting1611
affirmance1642
affirmation1645
validatinga1648
homologation1656
validation1656
sanction1658
c1419 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1834) II. 258 The Janneys seyn in affirmacioun of their first errour that the Florentyns..claymed owre good in their names.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 421 To the whiche affirmacion [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. forto conferme þe same], Varro rehersethe, not as in fabulose lesynge, but as in a trawthe historicalle, of the most famose Circes.
?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye iii. sig. h7v For a more vehement affyrmacyon he doubleth hys awne wordes.
1623 W. Lisle Serm. Easter Day in Ælfric's Saxon Treat. 7 Gregory desired of Christ, that he would shew to a certaine woman doubting about his mystery, some great affirmation.
1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 51 To establish by law a thing wholy unlawfull and dishonest, is an affirmation was never heard of before.
1708 W. Bohun Institutio Legalis 143 Then when Judgment is either affirmed or reversed, the Clerk of the Parliament will remand the Transcript into this Court, with the affirmation or reversal thereof to be entred upon the Record in this Court, at the end of the Judgment.
1749 G. B. Dodington Diary 9 Feb. (1784) 52 To this his Lordship made no reply in affirmation of what he had laid down.
1830 C. Bury Exclusives II. xv. 205 Lady Glenmore..raised her hands and eyes to heaven, in affirmation of her words.
1860 J. Forster Deb. Grand Remonstr. 2 The Petition of Right..was but the affirmation and re-enactment of the precedents of three foregoing centuries.
1912 Amer. Gas Light Jrnl. 22 July 63/2 They opposed the project, and..the affirmation of the plan looks unlikely.
1949 C. C. Rister Oil! Titan of Southwest xiv. 188 No less important was the Supreme Court's affirmation of a Texas court's dissolution decree.
2012 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 19 Apr. 34 This appointment is further affirmation of our commitment to the sector.
2.
a. An assertion, declaration, or positive statement; the words in which anything is asserted.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [noun] > an assertion, affirmation, or positive declaration
protestationc1390
affirmationa1425
affirmativec1450
edipolc1450
protestc1460
assertion1531
asseveration1551
narration1554
asseverance1574
protesting1582
pol1600
vouch1610
vouchee1625
averment1659
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > other grammatical categories or concepts > [noun] > use of affirmative > affirmative word or form
affirmationa1425
affirmativec1450
yeaword1573
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) 23 Many men sayen, but y make none affirmacion vpon þat.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 38 He may combyne to gidere suche now seid affirmaciouns and negaciouns.
1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 79v When they shall here any of the Familie, slide into any of these affirmations.
a1593 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 63 Paul's affirmation, who saith, ‘Such as the root is, such are the branches.’
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Contreferme,..an affirmation of that whereof another affirmes the contrarie.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. iv. 17 It be a false affirmation to say a quadrangle is round.
1683 W. Hedges Diary 22 Sept. (1887) I. 113 The underwritten is Coppy of Capt. Minchin's affirmation.
1763 J. Brown Diss. Poetry & Music §12. 207 Well attested Facts are stubborn Things, and will not bend to general Affirmations.
1790 A. J. Dallas Rep. Cases Pennsylvania 1 241 It appeared, that, with the Præcipe for the writ, an affirmation of one Rumford Davis, was filed in the Prothonotary's Office.
1849 C. Stovel Canne's Necessitie of Separation Introd. p. ix Relinquishing all claim to respect by falsifying their own affirmations.
1874 J. Parker Paraclete xviii. 327 The bold affirmation that we have no sensation of efficiency is probably best met by a bold affirmation to the exact contrary.
1917 Harvard Law Rev. 31 32 Rousseau does not content himself for that matter with affirmations in respect to the existence of this civil religion.
1952 P. Tillich Courage to Be ii. 40 There could be no negation if there were no preceding affirmation to be negated.
1997 J. Sawday in R. Porter Rewriting Self 42 Dürer's affirmation that ‘where... the finger points, there it hurts me’ may be understood as a generalized meditation on Christ's passion.
b. The action of asserting or declaring something to be true or valid; esp. positive assertion of the truth of a fact, theory, etc., in contrast to negation or denial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [noun] > assertion of positive as opposed to negative
affirmance1399
affirmingc1425
affirmationa1513
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > other grammatical categories or concepts > [noun] > use of affirmative
affirmationa1513
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome (1965) II. 93 And the affirmacioun and negacioun opposite may nocht baith be trew.
1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. D4v Some of our company have made certaine affirmation of Cyprus which for such and other excellent vses, is also a wood of price.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xix. 177 We aske many questions and looke for none answere, speaking indeed by interrogation, which we might as well say by affirmation.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. iv. 58 This Gentleman, at that time vouching (and vpon warrant of bloody affirmation) his [mistress] to be more Faire. View more context for this quotation
1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling i. i. §16 If we dive farther into its inferences and adherencies, the affirmation is yet more irrefragable.
1743 N. Tindal tr. P. Rapin de Thoyras Hist. Eng. (ed. 3) II. xvii. 127 Whether more credit were to be given to her bare negation than to their affirmation.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. iii. 6/2 Instead of Denial and Destruction, we were to have a science of Affirmation and Re-construction.
1871 M. Arnold in Cornhill Mag. July 46 Is this reservedness of affirmation about God less worthy of him, than the..licence of affirmation of our dogmatists?
1907 Academy 9 Nov. 121/1 The time is past for..earnest and vehement affirmation on this and on similar topics.
1956 F. Copleston Contemp. Philos. xi. 197 His thought leaping beyond the world and human life..to the affirmation of God, to whom reason does not lead.
2011 L. Westra Human Rights i. 24 Negating the progress made by individuals in the affirmation of their rights from the Enlightenment on.
3. Logic. The assertion that the predicate of a proposition is true of all or some of the subject; a positive statement or proposition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > affirmation or predication
affirmation1551
predication1599
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Fiiiv Both the Propositions are like in all thyges, both in signes, and also in affirmacion, or negation.
1574 R. MacIlmaine tr. P. de La Ramée Logike i. xii. f. 36v And therefore vpon the affirmation of the one, followethe the negation of the other.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. i. ii. 17 Abstract Names proceed from Proposition, and can have no place where there is no Affirmation.
1774 T. Reid Brief Acct. Aristotle's Logic i. §4, in Ld. Kames Sketches Hist. Man II. iii. 174 Affirmation is the enunciation of one thing concerning another.
1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith iv. 161 A judgment is an assertion, affirmative or negative. Affirmation and denial are as the opposite motions of the same wheel; the extensor and contractor muscles of the same limb.
1921 W. E. Johnson Logic I. iii. 35 From an implicative, combined with the affirmation of its implications, we may infer the affirmation of its implicate.
1961 I. Thomas tr. I. M. Bocheński Hist. Formal Logic iii. 183 Modal propositions are said to be affirmative or negative according to the affirmation or negation of the mode, not according to the affirmation or negation of the dictum.
2000 J. C. Sager Ess. Definition 58 There is no difference between dividing the genus by a negation, and dividing it by such an affirmation as is bound to have a negation as its co-ordinate in a division.
4. Law. A formal declaration with legal effect similar to that of an oath, made by a person who declines to take an oath for reasons of conscience; the action of making such a declaration.Originally in the context of Quakers' refusal to swear oaths in a court of law, based on an interpretation of Matthew 5:34.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [noun] > solemn > asseveration instead of an oath
affirmation1695
declaration1834
1695–6 Act 7 & 8 Will. III xxxiv Every Quaker..shall instead of the usual Forme be permitted to make his or her Solemne Affirmation or Declaracion.
1738 Defoe's Compl. Eng. Tradesman (ed. 4) I. xvi. 180 To be examined on oath, or, if Quaker, on Affirmation.
1789 J. Gough Hist. Quakers IV. vii. ii. 186 Several of the bishops..contrived to form the affirmation into the substance of an oath in their own opinions.
1834 Friend 7 85/1 We would..remind Friends of the serious obligation which in all respects attaches to the making of a solemn affirmation.
1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. vii. 427 Giving their affirmation the value of an oath.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 300/2 Quakers, Moravians and Separatists were first privileged to make a solemn declaration or affirmation.
1949 Official Gaz. (Kenya) 26 July 584 An inspector may hear and receive evidence and examine witnesses upon oath or affirmation.
2002 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 27 Jan. 57 In 1833..the Oath was altered so that they could make solemn affirmation.
5. Originally U.S.
a. The assertion or reinforcement of the value of (one's) life, esp. through a positive or uplifting experience or activity; (also) an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1882 American 15 Apr. 8/1 The existence of a nation is a daily plebiscite, as the existence of the individual is a perpetual affirmation of life.
1935 Social Res. 2 382 It [sc. the struggle for freedom] alone enables man to cope with the tension of the demands of the spirit,..to give affirmation to life in order to be able to cope with it.
1947 E. Fromm Man for Himself iv. 130 The affirmation of one's own life, happiness, growth, freedom, is rooted in one's capacity to love, i.e., in care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge.
1999 F. M. Biddle Whitney Women & Museum they Made i. 8 Even at its most uncomfortable and probing, even when bizarre and impenetrable, art remains an affirmation of life.
b. Emotional support or encouragement; positive acknowledgement of one's worth or value. Also: an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > support or encouragement > [noun]
comfort?c1225
encourage1535
encouragement1550
comfortation1552
countenance1576
cover1581
couragement1603
patronage1610
abettance1781
championship1840
moral support1852
fautorship1863
affirmation1966
1966 Ebony Aug. 50/2 Miss Brown..uses her sex to gain personal affirmation, to satisfy a gnawing need for someone, somewhere, at some time..to care for her, to love her.
1978 J. Breault Transformed Mind & Heart Pref. p. xiii I am aware of the dangers of writing on such sensitive topics when so many people need affirmation and encouragement.
1990 Quarterly (U.S.) Fall 6 It must feel like a vindication, an affirmation, winning the big one at last.
1991 W. E. Diehl Monday Connection (1993) i. 12 For my Monday work as a Christian businessperson in a highly competitive environment,..I received no affirmation, no training, no support, and no prayers.
2005 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 13 July l3 When you try to get the audience on your side, it feels like you're getting affirmation.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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