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firm

Pronunciation: /fɜːm/

The English word “firm” has 17 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A business partnership; the name under which it trades.
  2. A business enterprise, however organized.
  3. A criminal gang, especially based around football hooliganism.

adjective

  1. Steadfast, secure, solid (in position)
  2. Fixed (in opinion).
  3. Insistent upon something, not accepting dissent.
  4. Durable, rigid (material state).
  5. Mentally resistant to hurt or stress.
  6. Not frivolous or fallacious; trustworthy; solid; dependable.

adverb

  1. firmly, steadily

verb

  1. To make firm or strong; fix securely.
  2. To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
  3. To become firm; stabilise.
  4. To improve after decline.
  5. To shorten (of betting odds).
  6. To grit one's teeth and bear; to push through something unpleasant.
  7. To select (a higher education institution) as one's preferred choice, so as to enrol automatically if one's grades match the conditional offer.

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.