assurance
Pluralassurances
- 1A declaration or promise intended to inspire full confidence in someone.
The minister offered repeated assurance that prices would not rise again this year.
Despite his assurance, the workers remained doubtful about the new schedule.
Similarpromise, guarantee, pledge, word, commitment
Note
The giving side of the word: an assurance is something offered to another person, and it takes a plural easily, as in Macaulay's "Assurances of support came pouring in daily." It comes through Middle English assuraunce from Old French asseürance, from asseürer, "to assure." Its usual verbs are give, offer and convey. Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore (1879), with "I desire to convey to you officially my assurance," shows how formal the singular can sound.
- 2The state of being assured; total confidence or trust, free of any doubt.
Investors wanted some assurance that their money would be safe.
He felt a quiet assurance that he had finally made the right choice.
Similarcertainty, confidence, conviction, guarantee
Oppositedoubt, uncertainty
Note
Here the confidence is held rather than given. The noun is usually followed by of or that: "full assurance of faith" in the King James Bible of 1611, and "no assurance of returning soon" in George W. Bush's 2005 radio address. With no, some or little in front, it shades toward "guarantee," a certainty someone else might supply. Its religious use narrowed into the theological term.
- 3Firmness of mind; steady self-confidence and courage in the face of difficulty.
The young captain led the rescue with surprising assurance.
Her assurance never wavered, even when the plan began to collapse.
Similarconfidence, self-confidence, poise, composure, aplomb
Oppositediffidence, insecurity, timidity, self-doubt
Note
A quality of bearing rather than of belief: the steadiness of someone who does not doubt themselves. Locke speaks of conversation giving young people "a becoming assurance," and the word often comes with an approving adjective or with great, as in "replied with great assurance." Pushed too far, the same quality becomes the impudent meaning. The surrounding adjectives tell you which side of that line a writer means.
- 4A contract providing payment of a sum upon a certain event, such as death; in British usage it refers especially to life coverage.
The firm sold both life assurance and general insurance policies.
He took out an assurance policy to provide for his children.
Note
The insurance trade draws a fine line here. Assurance traditionally names cover for life contingencies such as death, while insurance names cover for other events such as loss. When a policy pays only if the event happens within a fixed period, it is called temporary assurance. That is why a firm can list life assurance alongside general insurance without repeating itself.
- 5Excessive boldness; impudence or nerve beyond what is proper.
It took some assurance to walk in uninvited and demand a refund.
His assurance in lecturing the professor astonished the entire class.
Similaraudacity, nerve, impudence, effrontery, temerity
Oppositetimidity, diffidence
Note
The overconfident edge of the word, and it is nearly always a complaint. Its signature construction is have the assurance to do something, as in Jane Austen's Emma (1815): "I wonder how the young man could have the assurance to ask it." Out of that frame, a reader may hear praise instead. A disapproving word nearby, such as "His assurance is intolerable," keeps the meaning clear.
- 6A written or other legal document evidencing the conveyance of property; a deed.
The solicitor examined every assurance in the chain of title.
An old assurance confirmed that the estate had passed to the eldest son.
Similardeed, conveyance
Note
Lawyers kept the word for documents that secure title: a deed or other conveyance assures the new owner of the property. William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England calls these instruments "the common assurances of the kingdom." In this sense the noun is countable, so each assurance in a chain of title is examined separately. It should not be confused with the insurance sense.
- 7Personal, subjective certainty of one's own salvation.
The sermon dwelt on the believer's assurance of salvation.
He prayed for assurance that his sins were truly forgiven.
Similarcertainty, conviction, confidence
Oppositedoubt
Note
Theology puts its weight on the word subjective. The question is how sure the believer feels, not whether salvation has in fact been secured. The usual phrase is assurance of salvation, and a person can pray for it or lack it. The term narrows the general sense of certainty, which is already heard in the 1611 Bible's "full assurance of faith."
Less common meaning
- 8A betrothal; a solemn pledge or promise of marriage.
The families celebrated the assurance of the young couple that spring.
He broke their assurance and married another, to her family's lasting shame.
Note
An old use in which the pledge is a promise of marriage, close in meaning to affiance. It is obsolete, so it belongs to reading older texts, not to modern writing. Today a phrase like "their assurance" would be heard as a reassuring promise, not as an engagement. When you need the idea now, betrothal or engagement says it without confusion.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English assuraunce, from Old French asseürance (from asseürer), formed as if from assure plus the suffix -ance.