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Webster 1913 Edition

Assert

As-sert′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Asserted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Asserting
.]
[L.
assertus
, p. p. of
asserere
to join or fasten to one’s self, claim, maintain;
ad
+
serere
to join or bind together. See
Series
.]
1.
To affirm; to declare with assurance, or plainly and strongly; to state positively; to aver; to asseverate.
Nothing is more shameful . . . than to
assert
anything to be done without a cause.
Ray.
2.
To maintain; to defend.
[Obs. or Archaic]
That . . . I may
assert
Eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.
Milton.
I will
assert
it from the scandal.
Jer. Taylor.
3.
To maintain or defend, as a cause or a claim, by words or measures; to vindicate a claim or title to;
as, to
assert
our rights and liberties
.
To assert one's self
,
to claim or vindicate one's rights or position; to demand recognition.
Syn. – To affirm; aver; asseverate; maintain; protest; pronounce; declare; vindicate.
– To
Assert
,
Affirm
,
Maintain
,
Vindicate
. To assert is to fasten to one's self, and hence to claim. It is, therefore, adversative in its nature. We assert our rights and privileges, or the cause of tree institutions, as against opposition or denial. To affirm is to declare as true. We assert boldly; we affirm positively. To maintain is to uphold, and insist upon with earnestness, whatever we have once asserted;
as, to
maintain
one's cause, to
maintain
an argument, to
maintain
the ground we have taken
. To vindicate is to use language and measures of the strongest kind, in defense of ourselves and those for whom we act. We maintain our assertions by adducing proofs, facts, or arguments; we are ready to vindicate our rights or interests by the utmost exertion of our powers.

Webster 1828 Edition

Assert

ASSERT'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. assero, assertum, to claim or challenge, to maintain or assert; of ad and sero. The sense of sero is to sow, properly to throw or set. To assert is to throw or set firmly.]
1.
To affirm positively; to declare with assurance; to aver.
2.
To maintain or defend by words or measures; to vindicate a claim or title to; as, to assert our rights and liberties.

Definition 2024

assert

assert

English

Noun

assert ‎(plural asserts)

  1. (computer science) an assert statement; a section of source code which tests whether an expected condition is true.

Translations

Verb

assert ‎(third-person singular simple present asserts, present participle asserting, simple past and past participle asserted)

  1. To declare with assurance or plainly and strongly; to state positively.
    • 2012 March-April, Colin Allen, “Do I See What You See?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 168:
      Numerous experimental tests and other observations have been offered in favor of animal mind reading, and although many scientists are skeptical, others assert that humans are not the only species capable of representing what others do and don’t perceive and know.
    he would often assert his beliefs to us
  2. To use or exercise and thereby prove the existence of.
    to assert one's authority
    Salman Rushdie has asserted his right ... to be identified as the author of this work
  3. To maintain or defend, as a cause or a claim, by words or measures; to vindicate a claim or title to
    to assert our rights and liberties
    The quasi-judicial pre-grant process of asserting patent rights and appeals procedures during patent examination; 'to assert' patent rights means to defend or maintain patent rights.
  4. (computer science) To make true; to make equal to 1. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

Portuguese

Noun

assert m (plural asserts)

  1. (programming) assert (conditional statement that checks the validity of a value)

Etymology

From Latin assertus, perfect passive participle of asserō ‎(“declare someone free or a slave by laying hands upon him; hence free from, protect, defend; lay claim to, assert, declare”), from ad ‎(“to”) + serō ‎(“join, range in a row”).

Pronunciation

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