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unsecured

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Etymology and origin of the English word unsecured

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1780 Edmund Burke, Speech on Oeconomical Reformation
Ultimate origin
Latin sēcūrus

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌʌnsɪˈkjʊəd/, /ˌʌnsəˈkjʊəd/[1]
  • US: /ˌʌnsɪˈkjʊrd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + secured, secured being the past participle of the verb secure.[2][3][4][5] The adjective secured is recorded from 1600,[2] and the verb secure from 1587 in the OED[2] and 1593 in Barnhart, from the adjective,[6] which was borrowed in the 16th century from Latin sēcūrus (“free from care, safe”),[6][4] from sē- (“free from”) and cūra (“care”).[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not made safe or secure: 1780, in Edmund Burke's speech on economical reform.[2][4] Dictionary.com dates it to 1770–80.[5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the early sense as "not made safe from loss or theft".[4] In later use the word follows the financial sense of secured, a debt or loan guaranteed by assets held as security:[2] an unsecured loan or bond has no specific security pledged for it,[3][7] and an unsecured creditor has no claim on a particular asset and ranks below secured creditors.[7] The physical sense, not fastened or loose, also remains.[7]

Timeline

  • 1587 – the verb secure, to keep safe.[2]
  • 1600 – secured, the adjective.[2]
  • 1780 – unsecured, not made secure.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (finance) Of a loan, bond or debt, not backed by any specific asset pledged as security: an unsecured overdraft.[7][3]
  2. (finance) Of a creditor, having no claim on a particular asset, and ranking below secured creditors.[7]
  3. Not made secure; not fastened, loose or unprotected: The ladder was left unsecured against the wall.[7][3][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Unsecured.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/unsecured. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·