Noah Webster
Assert
ASSERT', verb transitive [Latin 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.