assure

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /əˈʃɔː(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #2751

Meanings

1

verb
To tell someone something confidently so they feel less worried.

I assured them that traveling there was safe.
2

verb
To promise that something will definitely happen.

They assured me they would be at the meeting.
3

verb
To make something certain or secure.

Careful planning helped assure the success of the event.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to tell someone something... reassure tell

2 verb · to promise that something... promise

Word family

Forms assuredassuresassuring

Derived forms assurorover-assured

Related forms assurance ensure insure reassure

Simplified etymology

Assure entered English in the late Middle English period and comes from Latin securus, “free from care,” the same source as sure.

Etymology

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

asseurer Old French ad- Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# assure

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əˈʃɔː(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 2751

## Meanings
1. To tell someone something confidently so they feel less worried.
2. To promise that something will definitely happen.
3. To make something certain or secure.

## Examples
- I assured them that traveling there was safe.
- They assured me they would be at the meeting.
- Careful planning helped assure the success of the event.

## Derived Forms
- assuror
- over-assured

## Related Forms
- assurance
- ensure
- insure
- reassure

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: asseurer
- Root: ad-

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

## AI Etymology
Assure is from Old French asseurer (Modern French assurer), from Latin ad- plus securus (“secure”). Cognate with Spanish asegurar. Doublet of assecure. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as a verb, assure denotes to tell someone something confidently so they feel less worried, to promise that something will definitely happen, and to make something certain or secure. The same word family continues in derived forms such as assuror and over-assured and related entries such as assurance, ensure, insure, and reassure.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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