different between obtest vs confirm

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?t?st/

Verb

obtest (third-person singular simple present obtests, present participle obtesting, simple past and past participle obtested)

1. (archaic, transitive, intransitive) To implore, beseech, plead, beg.
2. (archaic, transitive, intransitive) To call on a witness (often God) to confirm that something is true.

   • A truce, with olive-branches in their hand ;
     Obtest his clemency, and from the plain
     Beg leave to draw the bodies of their slain

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