v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Confrmed p. pr. & vb. n. Confirming. ] [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law. Ps. cv. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To strengthen in judgment or purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confirmed, then, I resolve
Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To give new assurance of the truth of; to render certain; to verify; to corroborate; as, to confirm a rumor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your eyes shall witness and confirm my tale. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

These likelihoods confirm her flight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

That treaty so prejudicial ought to have been remitted rather than confimed. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Eccl.) To administer the rite of confirmation to. See Confirmation, 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be confirmed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Confirmation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. confirmation, L. confirmatio. ] 1. The act of confirming or strengthening; the act of establishing, ratifying, or sanctioning; as, the confirmation of an appointment. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their blood is shed
In confirmation of the noblest claim. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which confirms; that which gives new strength or assurance; as to a statement or belief; additional evidence; proof; convincing testimony. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eccl.) A rite supplemental to baptism, by which a person is admitted, through the laying on of the hands of a bishop, to the full privileges of the church, as in the Roman Catholic, the Episcopal Church, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

This ordinance is called confirmation, because they who duly receive it are confirmed or strengthened for the fulfillment of their Christian duties, by the grace therein bestowed upon them. Hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) A conveyance by which a voidable estate is made sure and not voidable, or by which a particular estate is increased; a contract, express or implied, by which a person makes that firm and binding which was before voidable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. confirmativus: cf. F. confirmatif. ] Tending to confirm or establish. Sherwood.

-- Con*firm"a*tive*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. ] One who, or that which, confirms; a confirmer. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Serving to confirm; corroborative. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fact confirmatory of the conclusion. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pertaining to the rite of confirmation. Compton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With confirmation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fixed state. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. confirmé, p. p. of confirmer. ] (Law) One to whom anything is confirmed. [ 1913 Webster ]