different between assure vs insure

English

Etymology

From Old French asseurer (Modern French assurer), from Latin ad- + securus (“secure”). Cognate with Spanish asegurar. Doublet of assecure.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?????/, /?????/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?????/, /????/
• Homophone: ashore
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

assure (third-person singular simple present assures, present participle assuring, simple past and past participle assured)

1. (transitive) To make sure and secure; ensure.
2. (transitive, followed by that or of) To give (someone) confidence in the trustworthiness of (something).

   I assure you that the program will work smoothly when we demonstrate it to the client.

   He assured of his commitment to her happiness.

3. (obsolete) To guarantee, promise (to do something).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.ii:

     That as a law for euer should endure; / Which to obserue in word of knights they did assure.

4. (transitive) To reassure.

Related terms

• assurance
• reassure

Translations

See also

• ensure
• insure

Anagrams

• Sauers, Sauser

French

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -y?

Verb

assure

1. first-person singular present indicative of assurer
2. third-person singular present indicative of assurer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of assurer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of assurer
5. second-person singular imperative of assurer

Anagrams

• ruasse, sueras, useras

English

Etymology

Recorded since about 1440, as a variant of Middle English ensuren (from Anglo-Norman enseurer, itself from en- (“make”) + seür (“sure”), probably influenced by Old French asseürer (“to assure”)); took on its particular sense of "make safe against loss by payment of premiums" in 1635, replacing assure.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n????/, /?n????/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n????/, /?n???/
• Rhymes: -??(?), -??(?), -??(?)

Verb

insure (third-person singular simple present insures, present participle insuring, simple past and past participle insured)

1. (transitive) To provide for compensation if some specified risk occurs. Often agreed by policy (contract) to offer financial compensation in case of an accident, theft or other undesirable event.

   I'm not insured against burglary.

2. (intransitive) To deal in such contracts; subscribe to a policy of insurance
3. (chiefly US, transitive) Alternative spelling of ensure; to make sure or certain of; guarantee.
   • 1787, Preamble to the United States Constitution,

     We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 19, [1]

     […] the sentry placed over the prisoner had strict orders to let no one have communication with him but the Chaplain. And certain unobtrusive measures were taken absolutely to insure this point.

Usage notes

• (provide for compensation): Note that both the person taking out insurance and the company with whom the policy is taken are said to insure the risk.

Derived terms

• insurance
• insurer
• reinsure

Related terms

• insurant
• assure
• ensure

Translations

See also

• inshore

Anagrams

• Ursine, inures, nursie, rusine, urines, ursine