Etymograph

English

secure

Secure is borrowed from Latin sēcūrus ‘free from care; safe’, from sē- ‘without’ + cūra ‘care’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-1‘to heed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷoizā1‘care’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūra2‘care’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcūrus2‘of persons’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1667secure2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cura
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English secure
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-Wiktionary, Latin cura‘to heed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷoizāWiktionary, Latin cura‘care’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūraWiktionary, English secure‘care’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcūrusWiktionary, English secure‘of persons’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1667secureWiktionary, English secure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to…”

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with secure, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ‘to heed’

  • shire ← schire ← sċīr ← *skīru
  • curate ← cūrātus

through Proto-Italic *kʷoizā ‘care’

  • procurator ← procuratour ← procuratour ← prōcūrō ← cūrō

through Latin cūra ‘care’

  • ensure ← ensuren ← enseurer ← seur ← sēcūrus
  • proxy ← procucie ← procuracie ← procuratia ← prōcūrātiō
  • assure ← asseurer ← securus
  • procurement ← procurer ← prōcūrō ← cūrō
  • curator ← cūrāre
  • insure ← ensuren ← enseurer ← seür ← sēcūrus
  • incurable ← incurabilis ← cūrō
  • manicure ← manucure
  • curation ← curacioun ← curacion ← cūrātiō ← cūrō

28 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Free from attack or danger; protected.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “secure”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin cura. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- / secure