firme

See also: firmé

Esperanto

Etymology

firma +‎ -e

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfirme/
• Rhymes: -irme
• Syllabification: fir‧me

Adverb

firme

1. firmly, securely
2. firmly, steadfastly

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English firm (“commercial undertaking, corporate name”) and/or German Firma (“business, business name, signature”), both from Italian firma (“signature”), from firmare (“to sign”), from Latin firmō (“to make firm”); possibly conflated with Medieval Latin firma (“farmed office, source of revenue”), from Old English feorm (“food, rent, tribute”). More at firm, farm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiʁm/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

firme f (plural firmes)

1. firm (company)

Descendants

• → Russian: фирма (firma)
  • → Georgian: ფირმა (pirma)

Further reading

• “firme”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• frémi, frime, frimé

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiɾme/ [ˈfiɾ.mɪ]
• Rhymes: -iɾme
• Hyphenation: fir‧me

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese firme (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Vulgar Latin firmis, from Latin firmus.

Adjective

firme m or f (plural firmes)

1. firm

   Synonym: rixo

   • 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago, Madrid: CSIC, page 136:

     Ay espada moy fremosa, que nũca foy suzia nẽ ferrugeẽta, mais sempre foy fremosa et clara et cõueniuele d'ancho et de longo, mais forte et mais firme ca toda las outras, o mãgo tẽes d'almasi moy brãquo et feicto en gisa de cruz, cõ moy fremosa arrays dourada et cõ moy boa maçãa dourada de beril no magarõ.

     Oh, very beauty sword, which was never dirty or rusty but was always beauty and clear and appropriate in its width and in its length; stronger and firmer than the rest; your hilt is of the whitest ivory, made in the form of the cross, with a very beauty golden handle, and an excellent golden apple of beryl in the end

Derived terms

• firmemente

Related terms

• afirmar
• enfermo
• firmar

Noun

firme m (plural firmes)

1. surface of a road
2. solid ground where foundations are built

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “firme”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “firme”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “firme”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “firme”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “firme”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

firme

1. inflection of firmar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Noun

firme f

1. plural of firma

Anagrams

• Fermi, fermi, fremi

Latin

Adjective

firme

1. vocative masculine singular of firmus

References

• “firme”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “firme”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “firme”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfiʁ.mi/ [ˈfiɦ.mi]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfiʁ.mi/ [ˈfiɦ.mi]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈfiɾ.mi/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈfiʁ.mi/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈfiɻ.mi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfiʁ.me/ [ˈfiɦ.me]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfiɾ.mɨ/

• Hyphenation: fir‧me

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese firme, from Vulgar Latin firmis, from Latin firmus, from Proto-Italic *fermos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s (“holding”), from the root *dʰer- (“to hold”).

Adjective

firme m or f (plural firmes)

1. firm

Etymology 2

Verb

firme

1. inflection of firmar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “firme”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “firme”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiɾme/ [ˈfiɾ.me]
• Rhymes: -iɾme
• Syllabification: fir‧me

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish firme, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fīrmis, from Latin firmus, from Proto-Italic *fermos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s (“holding”), from the root *dʰer- (“to hold”). The preservation of initial /f/ is irregular, but Coromines & Pascual reject the possibility of the word being a borrowing.

Adjective

firme m or f (masculine and feminine plural firmes, superlative firmísimo)

1. firm, steady, secure
2. steadfast, unwavering, unswerving, firm
3. adamant
4. strong, assertive (uncompromising, unyielding)
5. strong (promising)

   un firme candidato ― a strong candidate

6. solid, firm

   en tierra firme ― on solid ground

Derived terms

• a pie firme
• de firme
• en firme
• firmemente
• mantenerse firme
• sentencia firme
• tierra firme

Descendants

• → Tagalog: pirme
• → Zoogocho Zapotec: firm

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

firme

1. inflection of firmar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

References

• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “firme”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[1] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 902

Further reading

• “firme”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025