assurer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.sy.ʁe/^[1]

Forms

assurer^[1] Old French asoürer (1080, reflexive), asseürer (until the 16th century).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French asseürer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *assēcūrāre (“to make safe, protect”),^[2][5][6][7] from ad- and Latin sēcūrus (“safe, secure”) (see sûr);^[2][1] the verb is postulated from forms in most Romance languages.^[2]

Cognate with Italian assicurare, Old Occitan assegurar and Spanish asegurar.^[5][4] The Anglo-Norman “asseurer” corresponds to English assure.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has Li quens Rolans mie ne s'asoüret, Count Roland does not seek safety: “to put (oneself) in safety”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In the late 12th century it took the psychological sense “to reassure, make confident”, later largely taken over by rassurer (Chrétien de Troyes, Corneille's tâchons d'assurer la Reine).^[2][5][9] From the mid-12th century it also meant “to affirm as certain”: assurer qqn de qqch., assurer à qqn que (Marie de France), assurer que (1461), and the conversational je t'assure.^[2][9] Old French also used it for handing over a pledged property (1305), whence s'assurer de qqch. “to secure” (1640) and s'assurer que “to make sure”.^[2]

From 1486 it meant to make firm or steady, and in climbing to belay (Saussure, 1780; with a rope, 1913).^[2][10] From the early 15th century ships and goods were assurés against risks, and in 1829 property in general.^[2][5] Assurer also means to ensure, provide (assurer un service), and in recent slang, from musicians' use (1971), “to be up to it”.^[2][11]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – S'asoüret in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• Mid-12th century – “To affirm”.^[2]
• c. 1175 – Aseürer qqn de “to assure”.^[2]
• 12th century – Assurance.^[5]
• Early 15th century – Marine insurance.^[2]
• 1486 – “To make firm”.^[2]
• 1550 – Assureur.^[5]
• 1780 – A climbing term, in Saussure.^[2]
• 1971 – Slang “to be up to it”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To assure, affirm: il m'a assuré qu'il viendrait, je vous assure.^[9][12]
2. Assurer qqn de qqch.: to assure someone of something.^[9][3]
3. To ensure, secure; to provide, carry out: assurer l'avenir, assurer un service.^[1][3]
4. To insure: assurer sa maison contre l'incendie.^[1][2]
5. To steady, secure: assurer sa prise, (climbing) to belay.^[4][1]
6. (reflexive) S'assurer que, de: to make sure, s'assurer qqch.: to secure; to take out insurance.^[2][9]
7. (familiar, intransitive) To be up to it, cope: il assure.^[11][2]

Word family

• assurance
• assureur
• rassurer
• réassurer
• assurance
• assureur
• rassurer
• réassurer
• assuré

Related words

• sûr
• sécurité
• English assure

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 509b
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)