secure English · revision 4065

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1533|origins=la securus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sɪˈkjʊə/, US /sɪˈkjʊr/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|sēcūrus|t=free from care, quiet, easy; careless; of things, safe]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from a phrase *sē cūrā,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|sē|t=free from, without]] and cūrā, the ablative of [[m|la|cūra|t=care]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) The same Latin word had been borrowed earlier into Old English as sicor, Middle English [[sicker]], and [[sure]] is a doublet altered in its passage through French.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) It is related to [[security]] and [[cure]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Without care or apprehension”, often “careless, over-confident”: probably 1533 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) the 1530s in Etymonline, a sense now archaic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Safe, free from danger” is first recorded in 1582 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and of places, “unexposed”, by about 1600.^(Etymonline) “Affording grounds for confidence” is from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) and the mechanical sense “firmly fixed” by 1841.^(Etymonline) Of telephone lines, “not wiretapped”, it is by 1961.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to make safe”, is from 1593, in Shakespeare's 2 Henry VI,^(Barnhart 1988) or about 1600;^(Etymonline) “to ensure, guarantee” and “to make fast” are from the 1650s,^(Etymonline) “to seize and hold” a person from the 1640s,^(Etymonline) and “to get possession of” from 1743.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Security'', freedom from anxiety, is from before 1425.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1533 – without care.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1582 – safe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1593 – verb, to make safe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1650s – to fasten; to guarantee.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1743 – to obtain.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1841 – firmly fixed.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1961 – of telephone lines.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Free from danger or attack; [[safe]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Free from risk of loss.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Protected against unauthorized access or eavesdropping: ''a secure line''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Free from fear, anxiety or doubt.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Firmly fixed; not likely to fail or give way.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Certain; assured: ''a secure future''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To guard from danger or risk of loss.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make firm or tight; to [[fasten]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make certain; to [[ensure]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To guarantee payment of a loan, as with [[collateral]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To get possession of; to [[acquire]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[securable]]

+ * [[securely]]

+ * [[securement]]

+ * [[secureness]]

+ * [[securer]]

+ * [[oversecure]]

+ * [[supersecure]]

+ * [[unsecure]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[security]]

+ * [[sure]]

+ * [[sicker]]

+ * [[cure]]

+ * [[insecure]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}