FIRM  , an See also:

• ADJECTIVE (from the Lat. adjectives, added)

adjective originally indicating a dense or See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close consistency, hence steady, unshaken, unchanging or fixed . This word, in M . Eng. ferme, is derived through the See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French, from See also:

• LAT

Lat. firmus . The See also:

• MEDIEVAL

medieval Latin substantive firma meant a fixed See also:

• PAYMENT (Fr. paiement, from payer, to pay; Lat. pacare, to appease, pax, peace)

payment, either in the way of See also:

• RENT

rent, See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition for periodic payments, &c.; and this word, often represented by " firm " in See also:

• TRANSLATIONS

translations of medieval documents, has produced the See also:

• ENGLISH

English " See also:

• FARM

farm " (q.v.) . From a See also:

• LATE

late Latin use of firmare, to confirm by See also:

• SIGNATURE (through Fr. from Lat. signature, signare, to sign, signum, mark, token, sign)

signature, firma occurs in many Romanic See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages for a signature, and the English " firm " was thus used till the 18th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . From a transferred use came the meaning of a business See also:

• HOUSE
• HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in Gothic it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

house . In the See also:

• PARTNERSHIP (earlier forms, partener, parcener, from Late Lat. partionarius for partitionarius, from partitio, sharing, pars, part)

Partnership See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

Act 1890, persons who have entered into partnership with one another are called collectively a firm, and the name under which their business is carried on is called the firm-name .