Etymologically
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security

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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

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