different between confirm vs elucidate

English

Alternative forms

• confirme (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English confirmen, confermen, from Old French confermer, from Latin confirm?re (“to make firm, strenghten, establish”), from com- (“together”) + firmare (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?n?f?m/
• Rhymes: -??(?)m
• Hyphenation: con?firm

Verb

confirm (third-person singular simple present confirms, present participle confirming, simple past and past participle confirmed)

1. To strengthen; to make firm or resolute.
2. (transitive, Christianity) To administer the sacrament of confirmation on (someone).
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 35:

     Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, was baptized and confirmed at the age of three days.

3. To assure the accuracy of previous statements.

Synonyms

• (strengthen): See also Thesaurus:strengthen

Antonyms

• infirm
• disconfirm
• deny
• dispute
• contradict
• question

Related terms

• confirmability
• confirmation

Translations

See also

• verify
• corroborate
• establish
• prove

Further reading

• confirm in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• confirm in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• confirm at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Late Latin ?l?cid?tus, perfect passive participle of ?l?cid? (“clarify”), from Latin ex- and l?cidus (“clear”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??lu?.s?.de??t/
• (US) enPR: ?-lo?o'-s?-d?t

Verb

elucidate (third-person singular simple present elucidates, present participle elucidating, simple past and past participle elucidated)

1. (transitive) To make clear; to clarify; to shed light upon.
   • 1817, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, ch. 13:

     The business, however, though not perfectly elucidated by this speech, soon ceased to be a puzzle.

   • 1960, "Medicine: Unmasking the Brain," Time, 4 April:

     [P]hysicians at the annual meeting of the American Academy of General Practice were fascinated by a 3-ft. model showing the brain's components in 20 layers of translucent plastic, and wired for colored lights to elucidate some of its workings.

   • 2004, David Bernstein, “Philosophy Hitches a Ride With ‘The Sopranos’,” New York Times, 13 April (retrieved 19 Aug. 2009):

     The new Sopranos volume has 17 essays that examine the television show and elucidate concepts from classical philosophers, including Aristotle, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Sun Tzu and Plato.

   Synonyms: explicate, illuminate

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Italian

Verb

elucidate

1. second-person plural present indicative of elucidare
2. second-person plural imperative of elucidare

Participle

elucidate

1. feminine plural of the past participle of elucidare

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /e?.lu?.ki?da?.te/, [e???u?k??d?ä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.lu.t??i?da.te/, [?lut??i?d???t??]

Verb

?l?cid?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ?l?cid?