sure

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɔː/, /ʃʊə/ (UK); /ʃʊr/ (US)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English seur, sure,^[3][4] borrowed from Old French seür (“safe, secure; dependable”), sur (modern French sûr),^[5][3][6] from Latin sēcūrus (“free from care, untroubled; safe”),^[5][3][7] formed from sē- (“without, free from”) and cūra (“care”) (see secure and cure).^[3][8][5] Skeat gives segur as the earliest Old French form.^[9] Merriam-Webster derives the Middle English word from the Anglo-French Anglo-Norman seur.^[4] Sure and secure are doublets, the second borrowed directly from Latin in the 16th century.^[10][9][5] Its pronunciation with sh- developed in the same way as that of sugar.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Safe, secure, out of danger (about 1250, in The Owl and the Nightingale).^[10][3]

Semantic evolution

From “safe” the word passed to “reliable, fit to be depended on” (about 1300) and to the mental sense “certain, confident” (about 1330 in Barnhart, mid-14th century in Etymonline);^[3][5] Hoad distinguishes this subjective certainty (14th century) from the objective sense “certain to be” (15th century).^[11] “Certain to happen” is recorded from the 1560s.^[3] The original sense “safe” fell out of use in the 17th century.^[6][4] From 1470 to 1694 sure also meant “engaged to be married, betrothed”,^[12] as in Sir Thomas More's “The king was sure to dame Elizabeth Lucy”.^[13] The adverb “assuredly” dates from before 1325;^[5] the affirmative sure! “yes, certainly” is recorded from 1803 in Etymonline but already from 1651 in the Historical Thesaurus, in later use chiefly North American,^[3][12] and the intensive use between subject and verb (he sure can play) from 1894.^[12] Phrases include make sure (14th century), sure enough (1540s), for sure (1580s), to be sure (1650s) and sure thing (by 1836).^[3] Sure-fire “certain to succeed” is American from 1909.^[10] The colloquial pronunciation sho is attested by 1871.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – seur, safe, secure.^[10][3]
• c. 1300 – reliable, trustworthy.^[3]
• before 1325 – as an adverb, assuredly.^[5]
• c. 1330 – certain, confident.^[5]
• 1470–1694 – betrothed (obsolete).^[12]
• 1540s – sure enough.^[3]
• 1560s – certain to happen.^[3]
• 1650s – to be sure.^[3]
• 1803 – sure!, yes, certainly.^[3]
• 1836 – sure thing.^[3]
• 1894 – as an intensifier, certainly (US).^[12]
• 1909 – sure-fire (US).^[10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Free from doubt; certain or confident: I'm sure I'm right.
2. Certain to receive, do or happen: sure of success, sure to win.
3. Impossible to doubt; indisputable.
4. Reliable, trustworthy: a sure friend, a sure remedy.
5. Steady, unfaltering: a sure hand.
6. Careful to do something: be sure to lock the door.
7. (obsolete) Safe from harm.

Adverb

1. (informal, chiefly North America) Certainly; surely: sure, I'll be there.

Interjection

1. (informal) Yes; of course.

Word family

• sureness
• cocksure
• oversure
• surefooted
• surety
• unsure
• sure-enough
• sure-fire

Related words

• secure
• assure
• ensure
• insure
• cure
• sugar

Usage notes

Commentators have often treated the adverb sure as less than standard and recommended surely;^[4] Merriam-Webster finds that the two have become differentiated, sure being used in informal contexts and as a simple intensive.^[4][14] The American Heritage Dictionary notes that sure is more subjective than certain, which may imply belief based on evidence;^[7] confident suggests reliance on oneself or others, and positive full, emphatic certainty.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
14. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster