Etymograph

English

sure

Sure comes from Middle English sure, from Middle French sur or Old French seür, and ultimately from Latin sēcūrus ‘secure, carefree’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcūrus‘secure, carefree’literally ‘carefree’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400seür‘sure, secure’uncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sure
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcūrus‘secure, carefree’literally ‘carefree’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400seür‘sure, secure’uncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sure
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Theſe are the wings ſhall make it flie as…”

The story

From Middle English sure, seur, sur, from Middle French sur or Old French seür, from Latin sēcūrus (“secure”, literally “carefree”), from sē- (‘apart’) + cūra (‘care’) (compare Old English orsorg (‘carefree’), from or- (‘without’) + sorg (‘care’)).

Linked words

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

shire, curate, 7 more

through Proto-Italic *kʷoizā ‘care’

procurement, manicure, procurator, 7 more

through Latin cūra ‘care’

proxy, cure, curator, incurable, curation, 11 more

through Latin sēcūrus ‘secure’

security, secure, sicker, 5 more

Today it means

adj Physically secure and certain, non-failing, reliable.

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

Etymograph / Latin sēcūrus / sure

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