Word.ws English Dictionary

firm

/fɜːm//fɜɹm/

firm noun: a business partnership; the name under which it trades.

Noun

firm (plural firms)

  1. (UK) A business partnership; the name under which it trades.
  2. A business enterprise, however organized.
    • Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms.[…]Banks and credit-card firms are kept out of the picture. Talk to enough people in the field and someone is bound to mention the...2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71
  3. (slang) A criminal gang, especially based around football hooliganism.

Adjective

firm (comparative firmer, superlative firmest)

  1. Steadfast, secure, solid (in position)
    • It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.
  2. Fixed (in opinion).
    • a firm believer; a firm friend; a firm adherent
    • firm favourites
  3. Insistent upon something, not accepting dissent.
    • He wanted to stay overnight, but I was firm with him and said he had to leave today.
  4. Durable, rigid (material state).
    • firm flesh; firm muscles, firm wood; firm land (i.e. not soft and marshy)
    • Biblical criteria of sexual seductiveness include a white skin, black hair, or henna-dyed, scarlet lips, a prominent nose, rosy temples, long straight neck, firm breasts, round thighs, an erect posture.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 219
  5. Mentally resistant to hurt or stress.
    • […] The life that almost dies in me:
      That dies not, but endures with pain,
      ⁠And slowly forms the firmer mind,
      ⁠Treasuring the look it cannot find,
      The words that are not heard again.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 30
  6. Not frivolous or fallacious; trustworthy; solid; dependable.
    • Although facilitators of the workshop for lesbians and bisexual women attempted to address the concerns of lesbians, little firm information emerged.1988 April 23, Elizabeth Pincus, “Moving To Meet The Needs Of Women In The Age Of AIDS”, in Gay Community News, page 7
    • None of the Aramaic inscriptions from the Hellenistic and Roman period that are cited in support of this hypothesis that divine messengers are identified with their sender provide any firm proof to this respect.1999, Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos

Adverb

firm (comparative more firm, superlative most firm)

  1. (archaic) firmly, steadily
    • stand firm

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.
    • Stolz said the move by ClubsNSW had only firmed his resolve to keep fighting for the right to disclose information in the public interest about money laundering in registered clubs.2022 September 22, Harriet Alexander, “‘I’ve nothing to lose’: Dying whistleblower sued by ClubsNSW”, in Sydney Morning Herald
  2. (transitive) To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
  3. (intransitive) To become firm; stabilise.
  4. (intransitive) To improve after decline.
  5. (Australia, intransitive) To shorten (of betting odds).
  6. (colloquial, transitive) To grit one's teeth and bear; to push through something unpleasant.
    • I know you aren't feeling well, but just firm it.
  7. (UK, slang, transitive) To select (a higher education institution) as one's preferred choice, so as to enrol automatically if one's grades match the conditional offer.

firm meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

firm in Hindi

business enterprise, however organized
प्रतिष्ठान pratiṣṭhān
steadfast, secure (position)
दृढ़ dŕṛh, कायम kāyam

firm in Tamil

நிறுவனம், உறுதியான

firm in Marathi

firm, definite
ठाम ṭhām
firm, steady, stable – not shaking, changing, or moving
अढळ aḍhaḷ

firm in Urdu

firm
مضبوط mazbūt, ابچل abical, ٹھوس ṭhos, کڑا kaṛā
firm or dry ground; land
تھل thal
firm, stable, established, solid
مستحکم mustahkam
firm, strong, sturdy
پختہ puxta
More languagesFewer languages
firm in Bengali
কায়েম kaẏem, কঠোর koṭhōr, মজবুত mojbut, অনড় onoṛ
firm in Kannada
ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಸಂಸ್ಥೆ, ವ್ಯವಹಾರಸಂಸ್ಥೆ, ಒಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವವರ ಗುಂಪು, ಬಲಿ
firm in Punjabi
اٹل aṭall, ਕਾਇਮ kāim, قائم qā'im, ਮਜ਼ਬੂਤ mazbūt
firm in Gujarati
પેઢી peḍhī, ઠીક ṭhīk
firm in Sanskrit
दृढ dṛḍha, धीर dhīra
firm in Nepali
फर्म
firm in Pashto
ټينګ ṭing
firm in Indonesian
teguh

Examples of firm in a sentence

  • This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms.[…]Banks and credit-card firms are kept out of the picture.2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:
  • West Bromwich Albion, searching for a replacement for Roy Hodgson, are firm admirers.2012 May 9, John Percy, “Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report”, in the Telegraph:

All 40 example sentences with firm

Synonyms of firm

Forms of firm

Noun
pluralfirms
Adjective
comparativefirmer
superlativefirmest
Adverb
comparativemore firm
superlativemost firm
Verb
third-person singular presentfirms
present participlefirming
past participlefirmed
pastfirmed

Plural of firm: firms

Origin of firm

From Italian firma (“signature”), from firmare (“to sign”), from Latin firmāre (“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. Doublet of dharma and dhamma. Other cognates include Russian держать (deržatʹ, “to hold”).

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

From Middle English fermen (“to make firm”), partly from (either through Old French fermer or directly) Latin firmō, from firmus (“firm”, adjective), and partly a new formation on the adjective.

Words formed from firm

Phrases with firm

5 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with firm

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about firm

What does firm mean?
Firm means a business partnership; the name under which it trades.
What is firm in Hindi?
Firm in Hindi is प्रतिष्ठान (pratiṣṭhān), दृढ़ (dŕṛh), कायम (kāyam). See Firm meaning in Hindi.
How do you use firm in a sentence?
This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms.[…]Banks and credit-card firms are kept out of the picture.
What part of speech is firm?
Firm can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a verb.
How do you pronounce firm?
Firm is pronounced /fɜːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of firm?
The plural of firm is firms.

Words near firm in the dictionary

  1. firkytoodling
  2. firless
  3. firlike
  4. firlot
  5. firlots
  6. firm
  7. firm error
  8. firm errors
  9. firm hand
  10. firm hand at the tiller
  11. firm hand on the tiller

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: firm (page history and authors); firm (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अढळ (Marathi) (page history and authors); ابچل (Urdu) (page history and authors); অটল (Bengali) (page history and authors); firm (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اٹل (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઠીક (Gujarati) (page history and authors); firm (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ټينګ (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-firm.ogg, EN-AU ck1 firm.ogg, en-us-firm.ogg.

Cite this entry: “firm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/firm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.