Secure
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /səˈkjÊŠÉ™(ɹ)/, /səˈkjÉ”Ë(ɹ)/
- US IPA: /səˈkjɔɹ/, /səˈkjɚ/
Alternative forms
- secuer obsolete
Origin
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.
Full definition of secure
Adjective
secure
- Free from attack or danger; protected.
- Free from the danger of theft; safe.
- Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
- Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
- DrydenBut thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.
- Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
- Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
- Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of.secure of a welcome
- MiltonConfidence then bore thee on, secure
Either to meet no danger, or to find
Matter of glorious trial. - Overconfident; incautious; careless.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Verb
- To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
- DrydenI spread a cloud before the victor's sight,
Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight. - 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
- T. DickIt secures its possessor of eternal happiness.
- 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
- To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.to secure an estate"Captain was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress." (Flight, 1911, p. 766)
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 3, 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.