Etymograph

English

secure

Secure is borrowed from Latin sēcūrus ‘free from care; safe’, from sē- ‘without’ + cūra ‘care’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-‘to heed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷoizā‘care’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūra‘care’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcūrus‘of persons’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1667secure

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-‘to heed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷoizā‘care’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūra‘care’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcūrus‘of persons’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1667secure

Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to…”

The story

Borrowed from Latin sēcūrus (‘of persons, free from care, quiet, easy; in a bad sense, careless, reckless; of things, tranquil, also free from danger, safe, secure’), from sē- (‘without’) + cūra (‘care’); see cure.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ‘to heed’

shire, curate, 6 more

through Proto-Italic *kʷoizā ‘care’

procurator, 6 more

through Latin cūra ‘care’

ensure, proxy, assure, procurement, curator, insure, incurable, manicure, curation, 8 more

through Latin sēcūrus ‘of persons, free from care, quiet, easy’

sure, sicker, 6 more

Today it means

adj Free from attack or danger; protected.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- / secure

Shirt and support for this word