# insure

Pronunciation: US say "in-SHUUR" /ɪnˈʃʊɚ/; UK say "in-SHAW" /ɪnˈʃɔː(ɹ)/

## Verb

1. To provide for compensation if a specified risk occurs, often through a policy promising financial payment after an accident, theft or other unwanted event.
   - Simple: To set up a plan that pays money if something bad happens, like a crash or a theft.
   - _Many homeowners insure their houses against fire and storm damage._
   - _The museum's paintings are insured for far more than the museum paid for them._
2. Alternative spelling of ensure. — Alternative spelling of ensure; to make sure or certain of; guarantee.
   - Simple: Alternative spelling of ensure. It means to make sure something happens and appears mostly in older American writing.
   - _The committee posted extra guards to insure the safety of the delegates._
   - _Careful testing at every stage helps insure that the finished engine runs smoothly._
3. To deal in insurance contracts, or to take out a policy of insurance.
   - Simple: To sell insurance as a business, or to buy it for yourself.
   - _Many families insure with the same company for decades out of habit._
   - _The firm stopped insuring in coastal areas after a run of costly hurricanes._

## Origin

First attested around 1440 as a variant of Middle English ensuren, from Anglo-Norman enseurer (en- + seür, "sure"), probably influenced by Old French asseürer ("to assure"). It took on the sense "to protect against loss by paying premiums" in 1635, replacing assure; it is a doublet of ensure.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/insure (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).