different between firm vs thorough

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??m/, [f?m]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??m/
• Rhymes: -??(?)m

Etymology 1

From Italian firma (“signature”), from firmare (“to sign”), from Latin firmare (“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.

Noun

firm (plural firms)

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

Derived terms

• The Firm

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English ferme, from Old French ferme, from Latin firmus (“strong, steady”). Doublet of dharma.

Adjective

firm (comparative firmer, superlative firmest)

1. Steadfast, secure, solid (in position)

2. Fixed (in opinion)
   • He was firm that selling his company would a good choice and didn't let anyone talk him out of it.
3. Durable, rigid (material state)

   firm flesh; firm muscles, firm wood; firm land (i.e. not soft and marshy)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

firm (third-person singular simple present firms, present participle firming, simple past and past participle firmed)

1. (transitive) To make firm or strong; fix securely.
2. (transitive) To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
3. (intransitive) To become firm; stabilise.
4. (intransitive) To improve after decline.
5. (intransitive, Australia) To shorten (of betting odds).
6. (transitive, Britain, slang) To select (a higher education institution) as one's preferred choice, so as to enrol automatically if one's grades match the conditional offer.

Translations

Further reading

• Firm in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• FRIM, fMRI, frim

German

Etymology

From Latin firmus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??m/

Adjective

firm (comparative firmer, superlative am firmsten)

1. (somewhat dated) experienced, well versed

Declension

Further reading

• “firm” in Duden online

Polish

Noun

firm f

1. genitive plural of firma

Zoogocho Zapotec

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish firma.

Noun

firm

1. signature

Derived terms

• chgo?o firm
• cho?o firm

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish firme.

Adjective

firm

1. firm, fixed

References

• Long C., Rebecca; Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)?^[2] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 220

English

Alternative forms

• thoro (informal)

Etymology

From Middle English thoru?, þoru?, from Old English þuruh, a byform of Old English þurh, whence comes English through. The adjective derives from the preposition and adverb. The word developed a syllabic form in cases where the word was fully stressed: when it was used as an adverb, adjective, or noun, and less commonly when used as a preposition.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?????/, /??????/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /????o?/, /????o?/
• (accents without the hurry–furry merger)
• (accents with the hurry–furry merger)
• Rhymes: -?r?

Adjective

thorough (comparative more thorough, superlative most thorough)

1. Painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail.

   The Prime Minister announced a thorough investigation into the death of a father of two in police custody.

   He is the most thorough worker I have ever seen.

   The infested house needs a thorough cleansing before it will be inhabitable.

2. Utter; complete; absolute.
   • 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xviii^[1]:

     I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Society, and made it a point to attend every one of its meetings, but I always felt tongue-tied. Dr. Oldfield once said to me, 'You talk to me quite all right, but why is it that you never open your lips at a committee meeting? You are a drone.' I appreciated the banter. The bees are ever busy, the drone is a thorough idler. And it was not a little curious that whilst others expressed their opinions at these meetings, I sat quite silent. Not that I never felt tempted to speak. But I was at a loss to know how to express myself. All the rest of the members appeared to me to be better informed than I. Then it often happened that just when I had mustered up courage to speak, a fresh subject would be started. This went on for a long time.

Synonyms

• (detailed): comprehensive, rigorous, scrupulous; see also Thesaurus:meticulous or Thesaurus:comprehensive
• (utter; complete; absolute): downright, outright, unmitigated; see also Thesaurus:total

Derived terms

• thoroughbred
• thoroughgoing
• thoroughly
• thoroughness

Translations

Preposition

thorough

1. (obsolete) Through. [9th-19th c.]
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, V. i. 109:

     You are contented to be led in triumph / Thorough the streets of Rome?

Noun

thorough (plural thoroughs)

1. (Britain, dialect) A furrow between two ridges, to drain off the surface water.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)