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The corpus record — Latin

firmus

firmus

firm, stable, strong, reliable

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 150 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. firmus — de Vaan

firmus 'firm, stable, strong, reliable' [adj. o/a\ (Ρ1.+) Derivatives: firmitas 'strength, stability' (PI.+), firmiter 'firmly' (P1.+), firmitudo 'firmness' (PL+); firmare 'to confirm, make strong' (Ter.+), firmamentum 'support, prop' (Afran.+); ajfirmare 'to add strength, confirm' (P1.+), confirmare 'to strengthen, encourage' (P1.+), mfirmus 'weak' (Ter.+), mfirrnitas 'weakness' (Ter.+), — [de Vaan, s.v. firmus, p. 237]

2. firmus — Lewis & Short

firmus, a, um, adj.Sanscr. dhar-, dharā-mi, hold, support; Gr. qra=-, qrh/-sasqai, to sit down, qrh=nus, qro/nos; cf.: frētus, frēnum,

I firm (in opp. to frail, destructible), steadfast, stable, strong, powerful (freq. and class.; esp. in the trop. sense; syn.: constans, stabilis, solidus).
I Lit.: nos fragili vastum ligno sulcavimus aequor: Quae tulit Aesoniden, firma carina fuit, Ov. P. 1, 4, 35: robora, Verg. A. 2, 481: arbor, Ov. A. A. 2, 652: vincula, id. F. 1, 370: janua, i. e. shut fast, id. Am. 2, 12, 3; cf. sera, id. P. 1, 2, 24: solum, Curt. 5, 1: firmioris testae murices, Plin. 9, 33, 52, § 102: sunt et Amineae vites, firmissima vina. Verg. G. 2, 97: firmo cibo pasta pecus, strengthening, Varr. R. R. 2, 11, 2: firmius est triticum quam milium: id ipsum quam hordeum: ex tritico firmissima siligo, Cels. 2, 18: effice ut valeas, et ut ad nos firmus ac valens quam primum venias, Cic. Fam. 16, 8, 1 and 2; cf.: mihi placebat, si firmior esses, etc., id. ib. 16, 5, 1: nondum satis firmo corpore, id. ib. 11, 27, 1: hinc remiges firmissimi, illinc inopia affectissimi, Vell. 2, 84, 2.—With dat.: area firma templis sustinendis, Liv. 2, 5, 4: testa in structura oneri ferendo firma, Vitr. 2, 8, 19: adversis, Tac. Agr. 35 fin.
II Trop., firm in strength or durability, also in opinion, affection, etc., fast, constant, steadfast, immovable, powerful, strong, true, faithful: quae enim domus tam stabilis, quae tam firma civitas est, quae non odiis et discidiis funditus possit everti? Cic. Lael. 7, 23: res publica firma atque robusta, id. Rep. 2, 1 fin.; cf.: civitas imprimis firma, Caes. B. G. 5, 54, 2: Trinobantes prope firmissima earum regionum civitas, id. ib. 5, 20, 1; cf. also: Mutina firmissima et splendidissima colonia, Cic. Phil. 5, 9, 24: tres potentissimi ac firmissimi populi, id. ib. 1, 3 fin.; and: evocatorum firma manus, id. Fam. 15, 4, 3: Antonius ab equitatu firmus esse dicebatur, strong in cavalry, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 15, 2.— With ad and acc.: satis firmus ad castra facienda, Pomp. ap. Cic. Att. 8, 12, A, 1: Chrysippi consolatio ad veritatem firmissima est, Cic. Tusc. 3, 33, 79: exercitus satis firmus ad tantum bellum, Liv. 23, 25, 6; cf.: cohortes minime firmae ad dimicandum, Caes. B. G. 7, 60, 2; Sall. H. 4, 62, 16.— With contra: Jugurtha nihil satis firmum contra Metellum putat, Sall. J. 80, 1.—With adversus: firmus adversus militarem largitionem, Tac. H. 2, 82: firmior adversus fortuita, id. ib. 4, 51: adversus convicia malosque rumores, Suet. Tib. 28.—Absol.: cum neque magnas copias neque firmas haberet, Nep. Eum. 3, 3; Caes. B. G. 1, 3, 8; Sall. J. 56, 2: concordi populo nihil esse immutabilius, nihil firmius, Cic. Rep. 1, 32: praesidia firmissima, id. Fin. 1, 10, 35: fundamenta defensionis firmissima, id. Cael. 2, 7: firmior fortuna, id. Rep. 1, 17: constitutio Romuli, id. ib. 2, 31 (ap. Non. 526, 10): illud ratum, firmum, fixum fuisse vis, Cic. Ac. 2, 46, 141: officii praecepta firma, stabilia, id. Off. 1, 2, 6; cf.: opinio, firma et stabilis, id. Brut. 30, 114: firma et constans assensio, id. Ac. 1, 11, 42: ne in maximis quidem rebus quicquam adhuc inveni firmius, id. Or. 71, 237: spem firmissimam habere, id. Fam. 6, 5, 4; cf., transf.: firmior candidatus, i. e. who has stronger, greater hopes of being elected, id. Att. 1, 1, 2: litterae, i. e. containing news that may be relied upon, id. ib. 7, 25; cf. id. ib. 16, 5: senatum sua sponte bene firmum firmiorem vestra auctoritate fecistis, id. Phil. 6, 7, 18; cf.: vir in suscepta causa firmissimus, id. Mil. 33, 91: accusator firmus verusque, id. Div. in Caecil. 9, 29; with this cf.: vir pro veritate firmissimus, Plin. Ep. 2, 11, 19: sunt fortasse in sententia firmiores, id. Balb. 27, 61: firmus in hoc, Tib. 3, 2, 5: non firmus rectum defendis et haeres, Hor. S. 2, 7, 26: firmus proposito, Vell. 2, 63 fin.; so, firmissimus irā, Ov. M. 7, 457: firmo id constantique animo facias licet, Cic. Fil. ap. Cic. Fam. 16, 21, 2: nunc opus pectore firmo, Verg. A. 6, 261: firmi amici sunt (opp.: amici collabascunt), Plaut. Stich. 4, 1, 16: firmi et stabiles et constantes (amici), Cic. Lael. 17, 62: ex infidelissimis sociis firmissimos reddere, id. Fam. 15, 4, 14: non brevis et suffragatoria, sed firma et perpetua amicitia, Q. Cic. Petit. Cons. 7, 26: firmissimae amicitiae, Quint. 1, 2, 20: fides firma nobis, Plaut. Capt. 5, 1, 6.—*
(b) Poet. with inf.: fundus nec vendibilis nec pascere firmus, able, capable, Hor. Ep. 1, 17, 47. —Hence, adv., firmly, steadily, lastingly, powerfully; in two (equally common) forms: firme and firmĭter.
(a) Form firme, Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 24; id. Trin. 2, 2, 54: insistere, Suet. Calig. 26: firme graviterque aliquid comprehendere, Cic. Fin. 1, 21, 71; cf.: satis firme aliquid concipere animo, id. ib. 2, 2, 6: continere multa, Quint. 11, 2, 2: sustinere assensus suos, Cic. Fin. 3, 9, 31: graviter et firme respondere, Plin. Ep. 6, 13, 3.—
(b) Form firmiter: firmiter hoc tuo sit pectore fixum, Lucil. ap. Non. 512, 20: nisi suffulcis firmiter, Plaut. Ep. 1, 1, 77: insistere, Caes. B. G. 4, 26, 1: in suo gradu collocari, Cic. Rep. 1, 45 fin.: stabilita matrimonia, Cic. Fragm. ap. Non. 512, 23 (Rep. 6, 2 ed. Mos.): promisisse, Plaut. Ps. 3, 2 111: meminisse, Gell. 13, 8, 2.—
b Comp.: firmius durare, Plin. 35, 12, 46, § 165: firmius coire, Ov. H. 19, 67.—
c Sup.: asseverare, Cic. Att. 10, 14 fin.: pulvinus quam firmissime statuatur, Vitr. 5, 12.

In the wild

6 of 556 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. firmus (scan p. 237; entry #580).
  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. firmus (scan p. 261; entry #4073).

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.