Etymologically
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sure

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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
  • 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