Assert

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·vt To Maintain; to Defend.

II. Assert ·vt 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.

III. Assert ·vt To Affirm; to declare with assurance, or plainly and strongly; to state positively; to Aver; to Asseverate.