[f. L. assert- ppl. stem of as-serĕre (f. ad to + serĕre to join, put) to put one’s hand on the head of a slave, either to set him free or claim him for servitude, hence, to set free, protect, defend; to appropriate, claim; to affirm, declare, state. Cf. also med.L. assertāre (freq. of asserĕre) to affirm.]
I. To grant or ensure liberty, to protect.
† 1. trans. To bring into freedom, set free. (Cf. L. asserere in libertatem.) Obs. rare.
1638. Chillingw., Relig. Prof., I. iv. § 13. 196. He that could assert Christians to that liberty which Christ and his Apostles left them.
1699. Bp. Patrick, Comm. Numb. xxiii. 22 (T.). The people of Israel … were asserted by God into a state of liberty.
† 2. To maintain the cause of, take the part of; to champion, protect, defend. Obs. exc. with cause as object (where it passes into 5).
1652. W. Cartwright, Offspr. Mercy, 19. His [Christ’s] father’s foreknowledge … asserted his death from casualty.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., VI. § 32. III. 283. Engaged to assert their good Patron … in his just vindication from this unjust aspersion.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 25. That … I may assert th’ eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., III. 53. God … could not so receive and assert an Impostor.
1718. Pope, Iliad, II. 339. Sedition silence, and assert the throne.
1814. Scott, Wav., iv. The cause that I shall assert I shall dare support in every danger.
II. To lay claim to.
3. trans. To claim (something) as belonging to (oneself or another); to declare one’s right to, or possession of. arch.
1652. Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 210. Julius Cæsar did assert to himself a Dominion over British Isle and Sea.
1836–7. Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph., xxxviii. (1870), II. 374. The few who assert to man a knowledge of the infinite.
† 4. To lay claim to, claim. Obs.
1649. Milton, Eikon., Wks. 1738, I. 393. Their Principles too much asserted Liberty.
1656. Bramhall, Replic., vii. 292. Here is no power asserted, no punishment to be inflicted … but only politicall.
1714. Gay, Trivia, I. 4. When to assert the Wall, and when resign.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, XXIII. 764. The fourth awarded lot … Meriones asserted next, The golden talents.
5. To maintain practically, insist upon, or vindicate, a (disputed) claim to (anything).
1649. Howell, Pre-em. Parl., 11. How infinitely necessary the Parlement is, to assert, to prop up, and preserve the Public Liberty.
1667. Milton, P. L., VI. 157. A third part of the Gods, in Synod met Thir Deities to assert.
1769. Junius Lett., xxxv. 164. A generous people … dare openly assert their rights.
1835. Marryat, Jac. Faithf., xlvi. He who would assert his independence.
6. To assert oneself: to insist upon the recognition of one’s rights or claims, and take means to secure them.
1879. Mrs. Oliphant, Within Precincts, xxxviii. He was all the more anxious not to lose her … that she had thus asserted herself.
1883. Wace, Gosp. & Witn., iv. 80. That agnostic philosophy which now asserts itself so loudly.
III. To declare, state.
7. trans. To declare formally and distinctly, to state positively, aver, affirm: a. a thing to be, or that it is.
a. 1604. Hanmer, Chron. Irel. (1633), 21. Polycronicon assircteth … that they came to the North of Ireland in Vespasian’s time.
1691. Ray, Creation (1714), I. 34 (R.). Now nothing is more shameful and unworthy a Natural Philosopher … than to assert any thing to be done without a Cause, or to give no reason of it.
1750. Harris, Hermes, I. ii. (1786), 16. To assert [is] … to publish some Perception either of the Senses or the Intellect.
1857. Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, 15. Would you not at once assert of that mistress, that she knew nothing of her duties?
b. with pronominal obj. standing for a clause.
1661. Bramhall, Just Vind., iii. 46. Which is all that we assert.
1795. Sewell, Hist. Quakers, I. Pref. 9. I have endeavoured to assert nothing but what I had good authority for.
1867. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), I. App. 650. It is not directly asserted, but it seems to be implied.
c. with sb. as object.
1667. Milton, P. L., V. 798. Those Imperial Titles which assert Our being ordain’d to govern.
1839. Keightley, Hist. Eng., II. 37. She asserted her innocence in the strongest terms.
1862. H. Spencer, First Princ., I. v. § 27 (1875), 99. Common Sense asserts the existence of a reality.
† 8. To declare or affirm the existence of.
1660. Stanley, Hist. Philos. (1701), 184/1. He likewise asserteth Faith and Imagination.
1724. A. Collins, Gr. Chr. Relig., 264. Justin Martyr asserts a double sense of some prophesies.
† b. To bear evidence of, bespeak. Obs. rare.
1823. Lamb, Elia, I. xviii. (1865), 138. Their air and dress asserted the parade.
† 9. To declare the extent of, to state. Obs.
1675. Ogilby, Brit., Pref. 4. Some have deviated … in Asserting the Distance.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 170. No size for … the Puppets can be well asserted.
