reassure
Formsreassures, reassuring, reassured
- 1To restore someone's confidence or calm; to free a person from fear or self-doubt.
The pilot's calm announcement reassured the passengers during the turbulence.
Good mentors reassure new employees who doubt their own abilities.
Similarcomfort, calm, soothe, encourage, hearten
Oppositealarm, worry, unsettle, frighten
Note
A borrowing that looks home-grown: it comes from Old French rasseürer, built from re- and asseürer, though English speakers hear it as re- plus assure. The verb takes the person being calmed as its object. What they are calmed about follows with a that-clause (reassured him that there was no monster) or with on (reassure one another on this point).
- 2To reinsure; to insure something again, especially by transferring part of a risk to another insurer.
The underwriters chose to reassure half the policy with a London syndicate.
After heavy fire losses, the company reassured its largest marine policies through a foreign partner.
Similarreinsure
Note
Insurance uses the same spelling for its own purposes, and the two sit awkwardly together. In a sentence like the company reassured its policies, only context tells the reader that risk is being ceded, not nerves calmed: words such as underwriters, policies and syndicate do that work. Modern insurance practice usually says reinsure instead, which avoids the clash with the comforting verb.
Practice
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Origin
From Old French rasseürer (modern French rassurer), formed from re- combined with asseürer, essentially re- plus assure.