secure

secure

English

Alternative forms

• secuer (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin securus (“of persons, free from care, quiet, easy; in a bad sense, careless, reckless; of things, tranquil, also free from danger, safe, secure”), from se- (“without”) + cura (“care”); see cure. Doublet of sure and the now obsolete or dialectal sicker (“certain, safe”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səˈkjʊə(ɹ)/, /səˈkjɔː(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /səˈkjʊɹ/, /səˈkjɝ/, /səˈkjɔɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: se‧cure

Adjective

secure (comparative securer or more secure, superlative securest or most secure)

1. Free from attack or danger; protected.
   • 2020 March, Joshua Leifer, “Led Astray”, in The Baffler‎, number 50:

     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.

2. Free from the danger of theft; safe.
3. Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
4. Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
   • 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 403869432:

     But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.

   • 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman

     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.

5. Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
6. Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
7. Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of.

   secure of a welcome

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to meet no danger, or to find / Matter of glorious trial.

8. (obsolete) Overconfident; incautious; careless.
   • 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 1069526323:

     They were secure where they ought to have been wary, and timorous where they might well have been secure.

9. Certain to be achieved or gained; assured.

   Just when victory seemed secure, they let it slip from their grasp.

Antonyms

• insecure

Hyponyms

• fail-secure
• secure by design

 

Derived terms

• securance
• securely

Related terms

• security

Translations

free from attack or danger; protected

Armenian: անվտանգ (hy) (anvtang) Belarusian: бяспе́чны (bjaspjéčny) Bulgarian: сигурен (bg) (siguren), безопасен (bg) (bezopasen) Catalan: segur (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 保护 (zh) (bǎohù) Esperanto: sekura Finnish: turvassa, turvallinen (fi), turva- French: sûr (fr) German: sicher (de), geschützt (de), beschützt (de) Greek: ασφαλής (el) (asfalís) Ancient: ἀσφαλής (asphalḗs) Ido: sekura (io) Italian: sicuro (it), protetto (it) Khmer: មានសុវត្ថិភាព (miən sovatthephiəp) Lao: ປອດໄພ (pǭt phai) Latin: tūtus, securus Latvian: drošs (lv) Lithuanian: apsaugotas m Macedonian: сигурен (siguren), безбеден (bezbeden) Maori: marutau, haumaru Middle English: siker Norwegian: sikker (no) Persian: ایمن‎ (fa) (imen), امن‎ (fa) (amn) Polish: bezpieczny (pl) m Portuguese: seguro (pt), a salvo (pt) Romanian: sigur (ro) m, protejat (ro) Spanish: seguro (es) m, resguardado (es) Swahili: salamu (sw) Thai: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

free from the danger of theft; safe

Armenian: ապահով (hy) (apahov) Belarusian: бяспе́чны (bjaspjéčny) Bulgarian: сигурен (bg) (siguren), защитен (bg) (zaštiten) Finnish: tallessa (fi), turvassa French: sûr (fr) German: sicher (de), geschützt (de) Italian: sicuro (it) Latvian: drošs (lv) Lithuanian: saugus m Macedonian: сигурен (siguren), безбеден (bezbeden) Middle English: siker Norwegian: sikker (no) Persian: امن‎ (fa) (amn) Polish: bezpieczny (pl) Portuguese: seguro (pt) Romanian: sigur (ro) m Spanish: seguro (es) Swahili: salamu (sw) Turkish: güvende (tr), güvenli (tr)

free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret

Armenian: ապահով (hy) (apahov) Finnish: salattu (fi) French: sûr (fr) German: sicher (de) Italian: segreto (it) Lithuanian: slaptas m Norwegian: sikker (no) Romanian: asigurat (ro) m, sigur (ro) m Spanish: seguro (es), confiable (es) Swahili: salamu (sw)

free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid

Armenian: ապահով (hy) (apahov) Bulgarian: уверен (bg) (uveren) Finnish: peloton (fi), varma (fi) French: sûr (fr) German: sicher (de) Latvian: drošs (lv) Maori: takuhe Middle English: siker Norwegian: sikker (no) Portuguese: seguro (pt) Spanish: seguro (es), aplomado (es) Swahili: salamu (sw)

Firm and not likely to fail; stable

Armenian: ապահով (hy) (apahov) Bulgarian: надежден (bg) (nadežden), безопасен (bg) (bezopasen) Finnish: vakaa (fi) French: sûr (fr) German: zuverlässig (de) Irish: diongbháilte Italian: stabile (it) Maori: tāwhiwhi, whita, ngita Middle English: siker Norwegian: sikker (no) Persian: مطمئن‎ (fa) (motma'en) Plautdietsch: faust Polish: bezpieczny (pl) Portuguese: seguro (pt) Romanian: sigur (ro) m Russian: надёжный (ru) (nadjóžnyj) Spanish: seguro (es), aplomado (es) m Swahili: salamu (sw) Turkish: sağlam (tr)

Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable

Armenian: ապահով (hy) (apahov) Bulgarian: сигурен (bg) (siguren), гарантиран (bg) (garantiran) Finnish: varma (fi), luotettava (fi) French: sûr (fr) German: sicher (de), zuverlässig (de) Italian: affidabile (it), sicuro (it) Middle English: siker Norwegian: sikker (no) Persian: مطمئن‎ (fa) (motma'en) Polish: bezpieczny (pl) Portuguese: seguro (pt) Romanian: stabil (ro) m, sigur (ro) m Spanish: seguro (es), confiable (es) Swahili: salamu (sw), salamu (sw)

Verb

secure (third-person singular simple present secures, present participle securing, simple past and past participle secured)

1. To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
   • 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 403869432:

     I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, / Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.

2. To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against or from, or formerly with of.

   to secure a creditor against loss; to secure a debt by a mortgage

   • 1831, Thomas Dick, The Philosophy of Religion

     It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.

3. To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.

   to secure a prisoner; to secure a door, or the hatches of a ship

4. To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.

   to secure an estate

   • 2014, Jamie Jackson, "Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real", The Guardian, 26 August 2014:

     With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window. Juventus’s Arturo Vidal, Milan’s Nigel de Jong and Ajax’s Daley Blind, who is also a left-sided defensive player, are potential targets.

   • 1911, Flight, page 766:

     [Captain] was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:

     One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

5. (transitive, obsolete) To plight or pledge.

Derived terms

• securement

Translations

To make secure

Bulgarian: осигурявам (bg) (osigurjavam), гарантирам (bg) (garantiram) Esperanto: sekurigi Czech: jistit (cs), zajistit (cs) Finnish: turvata (fi), suojata (fi), varmistaa (fi), kiinnittää (fi) French: sécuriser (fr) German: sichern (de), absichern (de) Indonesian: mengamankan (id) Irish: urraigh Italian: garantire (it), proteggere (it), mettere al sicuro, assicurare (it) Latin: munio (la) Manx: shickyree Maori: whakangita, tāmau Portuguese: assegurar (pt) Swahili: usalamu (sw)

to make fast, to firmly affix

Bulgarian: укрепвам (bg) (ukrepvam), закрепвам (bg) (zakrepvam) Finnish: teljetä (fi), sulkea (fi), lukita (fi) Maori: ngahu, taparenga, whakananawe, whakangita Turkish: sıkı sıkı bağlamak Ukrainian: закрі́плювати impf (zakrípljuvaty), закріпля́ти impf (zakripljáty), закріпи́ти pf (zakripýty), укрі́плювати impf (ukrípljuvaty), укріпля́ти impf (ukripljáty), укріпи́ти pf (ukripýty)

to get possession of, to acquire

Bulgarian: придобивам (bg) (pridobivam), сдобивам се (sdobivam se) Finnish: taata itselleen, varmistaa itselleen Italian: ottenere (it), assicurare (it) Maori: punga

Further reading

• secure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• secure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

Anagrams

• Creuse, Rescue, cereus, ceruse, cursee, recuse, rescue, secuer

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seˈku.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: se‧cù‧re

Adjective

secure

1. feminine plural of securo

Anagrams

• uscere

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /seˈkuː.re/, [s̠ɛˈkuːrɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /seˈku.re/, [seˈkuːre]

Noun

secūre

1. ablative singular of secūris

Etymology 2

securus +‎ -ē

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /seːˈkuː.reː/, [s̠eːˈkuːreː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /seˈku.re/, [seˈkuːre]

Adverb

sēcūrē (comparative sēcūrius, superlative sēcūrissimē)

1. carelessly
2. fearlessly
3. quietly

References

• “secure”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “secure”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• secure in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

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Romanian

Alternative forms

• săcure (archaic)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin secūris, secūrem. Compare Italian scure.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

secure f (plural securi)

1. axe, hatchet
2. battle axe, halberd

Declension

Declension of secure

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(o) secure	securea	(niște) securi	securile
genitive/dative	(unei) securi	securii	(unor) securi	securilor
vocative	secure, secureo		securilor

Synonyms

• topor