Etymologically
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reassurance

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 00:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌriːəˈʃʊər(ə)nts/, /ˌriːəˈʃʊər(ə)ns/[1]
  • US: /ˌriːəˈʃʊr(ə)nts/, /ˌriːəˈʃʊr(ə)ns/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + assurance,[2][3] after the verb reassure.[2] Etymonline takes it as reassure with the suffix -ance.[4] The OED compares Italian rassicuranza, recorded in Florio in 1598 and now rare or obsolete, and French rassurance (1640), also now rare or obsolete; the insurance sense may follow réassurance (1681).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A renewed assurance, a statement that removes or allays a person's doubts or fears: 1611, in Florio's Queen Anna's New World of Words, in the entry for Italian rassicuranza.[2] Etymonline also dates it to the 1610s, in the sense "assurance or confirmation repeated", and Merriam-Webster to about 1611.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

At first the word kept the force of its prefix: a reassurance was an assurance given again, and the OED notes that the 19th-century senses too at first meant a repeated or renewed act.[2][4] From 1702 it also meant the renewing or taking out of further insurance, the sense now usually called reinsurance.[2][5] The modern use for the removal of doubts or fears, or the confidence that results, is recorded from 1847, in Dickens's Dombey and Son, and for a person or thing that reassures from 1859, in George Eliot's Adam Bede;[2] Etymonline dates the meaning "restoration of courage or confidence" to 1875.[4] The use for encouraging words given to someone, especially over and over, is recorded from 1855.[2]

Timeline

  • 1611 – a statement that is renewed to remove a person's doubts or fears, in Florio.[2][4][5]
  • 1702 – the renewing of insurance; reinsurance.[2]
  • 1847 – the removal or allaying of doubts or fears; renewed confidence.[2]
  • 1855 – the giving of reassuring statements; verbal encouragement.[2]
  • 1859 – a thing or person that removes doubts or fears.[2]
  • 1875 – restoration of courage or confidence.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of reassuring someone, or the state of being reassured; renewed confidence: After the accident the boy needed a great deal of reassurance.[5][2]
  2. A statement, fact or person that removes someone's doubts or fears: The doctor's words were a reassurance to the family.[2]
  3. Reinsurance.[5][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster