Assure

How to spell assure

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce assure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does assure mean?

1. verbTo tell someone confidently that something is true or certain, so as to remove their doubt or worry.

Assure in a sentence

• I can assure you that the refund has already been processed.

• The surgeon tried to assure the anxious patient before the operation.

Where does assure come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travels back to the Latin assecurare, formed from ad, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and securus, meaning 'safe, free from care', which itself combines se 'without' and cura 'care'. The literal idea was to make someone safe or free from worry, and that sense of removing doubt is exactly what assure still does today. English took it during the 1300s from Old French aseurer, and over time the spelling was reshaped toward the Latin form with its doubled s. The same securus root sits inside 'secure', 'security', and the closely related verbs 'ensure' and 'insure', which is precisely why the three are so easily confused in writing. The useful memory hook is that assure is the one aimed at a person: you assure somebody, giving them confidence rather than guaranteeing an outcome or buying a policy.

How the word is built

• as- (variant of ad-: to, toward)
• sure (safe, certain, from Latin securus)
• the noun/verb ending -ure