security

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /sɪˈkjʊə.rə.ti/, US /sɪˈkjʊr.ə.ti/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English securite, borrowed from Old French securite and directly borrowed from Latin sēcūritās (“freedom from care, safety”),^[2][3][4] from sēcūrus (“free from care, safe”), the source of secure.^[2][5][6] It replaced the earlier sikerte, from an older borrowing of the same Latin word,^[2] and is a doublet of surety.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of being safe from danger: 1432–50^[7] or the early 15th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“Freedom from care or anxiety”, now archaic, is from the mid-15th century,^[2] or 1555 in the OED,^[7] and Etymonline notes that Middle English had earlier used sikerhede and sikernesse.^[2] In law, something pledged as a guarantee of an obligation, first a guarantee of good behaviour, is from the mid-15th century.^[2] Something that makes safe is from the 1580s.^[2] “Freedom from doubt, confidence” is from 1597.^[7] A document held by a creditor as proof of a right to payment is from the 1680s, hence securities, stocks and bonds.^[2] The safety of a state or organization against espionage or attack is from 1941,^[7][2] and by 1965 Security was shorthand for a state's security officials.^[2] A security blanket, figuratively, is attested by 1966.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1432 – safety.^[7]
• mid-15th century – a pledge or guarantee.^[2]
• 1555 – freedom from anxiety.^[7]
• 1580s – something that makes safe.^[2]
• 1597 – confidence.^[7]
• 1680s – a document of debt, hence securities.^[2]
• 1941 – the safety of a state.^[7][2]
• 1966 – security blanket.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Freedom from risk or danger; safety.
2. Freedom from doubt, anxiety or fear; confidence.
3. Measures taken to guard against attack, crime or espionage; the people responsible for them.
4. Something deposited as a guarantee of payment or of an obligation; a pledge.
5. (securities) A document showing ownership of stocks or bonds.

Word family

• nonsecurity
• maximum-security
• minimum-security
• securitize
• collective security

Related words

• secure
• surety
• sure
• insecurity

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press