c.1600, "to declare," from L. assertus, pp. of asserere "to claim, maintain, affirm" (see assertion). To assert oneself "stand up for one's rights" is recorded from 1879.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.