secure
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: note: without the pour–poor merger
ipa: /sɪˈkjʊə(ɹ)/
note: pour–poor merger
ipa: /sɪˈkjɔː(ɹ)/
ipa: /səˈkjʊɹ/
ipa: /səˈkjɝ/
ipa: /səˈkjɔɹ/
rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)
Forms: form: securer
form: more secure
form: securest
form: most secure
form: secuer
Etymology: 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. Doublet of sure and the now obsolete or dialectal sicker (“certain, safe”).
Senses: examples: text: The vast majority of American Jews not only greatly dislike President Trump but also believe he has made them less safe: according to a May 2019 poll, nearly three-quarters of Jewish voters believe American Jews are less secure under Trump than they were before, 71 percent disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance, and nearly 60 percent believe that he bears at least some responsibility for the synagogue shootings carried out by white nationalists in Pittsburgh and Poway.
ref: 2020 March, Joshua Leifer, “Led Astray”, in The Baffler, number 50:
glosses: Free from attack or danger; protected.
glosses: Free from the danger of theft; safe.
glosses: Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
examples: text: But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
text: No sooner were we up there, than the old woman dragged the ladder, by which we had ascended, away with a chuckle, as if she was now secure that we could do no mischief, and sat herself down again once more, to doze and await her master's return.
ref: 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman:
glosses: Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
glosses: Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
glosses: Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
examples: text: secure of a welcome
text: Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to meet no danger, or to find / Matter of glorious trial.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of.
examples: text: They were secure where they ought to have been wary, and timorous where they might well have been secure.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
glosses: Overconfident; incautious; careless.
examples: text: Just when victory seemed secure, they let it slip from their grasp.
glosses: Certain to be achieved or gained; assured.
Hyponyms: computationally secure
fail-secure
secure by design
selfsecure
Derived terms: securance
securely
Related terms: security