Etymology: < secure v. N.E.D. (1911) gives only the pronunciation (sĭkiū^ə·ɹ) /sɪˈkjʊə(r)/.

Etymology: Either (i) < classical Latin sēcūrus free from fears or anxieties, untroubled, undisturbed, peaceful, affording ground for confidence, sure, negligent, nonchalant, free from danger, safe, immune, in post-classical Latin also trustworthy (a1408 in a British source; < sē- se- prefix + cūra cure n.¹), or (ii) a remodelling of sicker adj. after classical Latin sēcūrus. Compare Old Occitan segur (12th cent.), Catalan segur (1260), Spanish seguro (1206), Portuguese seguro (13th cent.), Italian sicuro (13th cent.); for forms in French see sure adj. Compare also sover adj.Examples of this word, reflecting the second-syllable stress of the Latin adjective, are difficult to distinguish from those of sicker adj. and adv., an earlier borrowing of the same Latin word into Germanic with subsequent shift of stress to the first syllable. The stress pattern is not always clear from spelling alone: for instance, in early use the forms secure , secur are occasionally used where other evidence indicates stress on the first syllable, identifying them as examples of sicker adj. However, such evidence is not always available, so that some early modern examples included at sicker adj. may rather belong at the present entry and vice versa. The weight of evidence suggests that forms of the type sicker, siker are usual in the 15th cent., while secure remains rare until the mid 16th cent. but begins to predominate during the second half of that century.

Etymology: < secure adj. Compare post-classical Latin securiare (late 11th or early 12th cent.), securare (15th cent. in British sources), Old Occitan segurar (c1160), Spanish segurar (13th cent.), Portuguese segurar (13th cent.), Italian sicurare (late 12th cent.).