Reassurance

How to spell reassurance

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce reassurance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reassurance mean?

1. nounWords or actions that remove someone's doubts or worries and restore their confidence.

Reassurance in a sentence

• The nurse offered quiet reassurance before the operation began.

• Customers wanted some reassurance that the data would stay private.

Where does reassurance come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin securus, which literally meant 'free from care' or 'untroubled', built from se- 'without' and cura 'care'. That root passed into Old French as the verb asseurer, meaning 'to make safe or certain', which English adopted in the 1300s as 'assure'. The prefix re-, meaning 'again', was later attached to convey the act of making someone feel safe or confident a second time, easing renewed worry. The noun 'reassurance' then formed with the suffix -ance, which turns a verb into the name of an action or state. The same secur- root sits inside the familiar words 'secure' and 'insurance', a useful reminder that the middle of reassurance carries a doubled s only where the prefix re- meets assur, while the single s of 'assure' is preserved.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• assur (make sure, from Latin securus 'free from care')
• -ance (noun-forming suffix)