Word Confusion: Assure vs Ensure vs Insure

Posted May 6, 2013 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
30 Dec 2022

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Well, assure may be a verb, but you’ll notice in the definitions as well as the examples that assure is almost 100 percent verbal . . . pretty punny, huh? . . . verb . . . verbal . . . Okay, so I’ll never make it as a comic, but it does make the point. I assure you . . .

The “difference” between ensure and insure is actually fairly simple: insure is used exclusively with regards to insurance, otherwise you can use them interchangeably in the United States. Don’cha just love when that happens!?

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Assure	Ensure	Insure
Julien Bryan – Expres Wieczorny – 50900 by Julien Bryan is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Photographer Julien Bryan assures a ten-year-old Polish girl named Kazimiera Mika.	Wood Glue and Clamping the Pieces Before Screwing Them Together is Boohyabuddha’s own work under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons — The clamps ensure that the pieces bond well.	Image from The Literary Digest, page 466, 1890, is courtesy of Internet Archive Book Images and has no restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons. — Insure yourself with Prudential.
Part of Grammar:
Verb; Verb, transitive Third person present verb: assures Past tense or past participle: assured Present participle: assuring	Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: ensures Past tense or past participle: ensured Present participle: ensuring	Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: insures Past tense or past participle: insured Present participle: insuring
Verb: Tell someone positively or confidently to dispel any doubt they may have Make someone sure of something Verb, transitive: Tell someone something positively or confidently to dispel any doubts they may have Make something certain to happen [Chiefly British] Cover a person with life insurance Secure the future payment of (an amount) with insurance	Verb, intransitive: Make sure a problem will not occur Verb, transitive: Make certain something shall occur or be the case Make sure of obtaining or providing something	Verb, intransitive: To underwrite Make insurance Verb, transitive: Arrange for compensation in the event of damage to loss of property or injury to or the death of someone in exchange for regular advance payments to a company or government agency Provide insurance coverage with respect to Insure some against a possible contingency
Examples:
Verb: You would be assured of a fine welcome. She assured him that the baby was asleep. Verb, transitive: Tony assured me that there was a supermarket in the village. “I quite understand,” Mrs. Lewis assured her. They assured him of their full confidence. Victory was now assured. Their influence assured that the report would be tough.	Verb, intransitive: You should ensure against that dog biting people. Verb, transitive: The client must ensure that accurate records are kept. She would ensure him a place in society.	Verb, intransitive: Businesses can insure against exchange rate fluctuations. Subsidiaries set up to insure the risks of a group of companies. Such changes could insure against further violence and unrest. Verb, transitive: We’ve insured the house with Allstate. By appeasing Celia they might insure themselves against further misfortune.
Derivatives:
Adjective: unassuring Noun: assurance, assurer, assuring, assuror Verb, transitive: interassure, interassured, interassuring, preassure, preassured, preassuring	Noun: ensuring	Adjective: insurable Noun: insurability, insuring Verb, transitive: overinsure, overinsured, overinsuring, preinsure, preinsured, preinsuring
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Old French assurer which is based on the Latin ad- ‘to’ (expressing change) + securus (secure)	Late Middle English from the Anglo-Norman French enseurer, an alteration of the Old French aseurer, an earlier form of assurer.	Late Middle English , an alteration of ensure. Probably when they figured out about the money that could be made with insurance premiums . . .

Assure

Ensure

Insure

Julien Bryan – Expres Wieczorny – 50900 by Julien Bryan is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

—

Photographer Julien Bryan assures a ten-year-old Polish girl named Kazimiera Mika.

Wood Glue and Clamping the Pieces Before Screwing Them Together is Boohyabuddha’s own work under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons

—

The clamps ensure that the pieces bond well.

Image from The Literary Digest, page 466, 1890, is courtesy of Internet Archive Book Images and has no restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons.

—

Insure yourself with Prudential.

Part of Grammar:

Verb; Verb, transitive

Third person present verb: assures
Past tense or past participle: assured
Present participle: assuring

Verb, intransitive & transitive

Third person present verb: ensures
Past tense or past participle: ensured
Present participle: ensuring

Verb, intransitive & transitive

Third person present verb: insures
Past tense or past participle: insured
Present participle: insuring

Verb:
Tell someone positively or confidently to dispel any doubt they may have

Make someone sure of something

Verb, transitive:
Tell someone something positively or confidently to dispel any doubts they may have

Make something certain to happen

[Chiefly British] Cover a person with life insurance
Secure the future payment of (an amount) with insurance

Verb, intransitive:
Make sure a problem will not occur

Verb, transitive:
Make certain something shall occur or be the case

Make sure of obtaining or providing something

Verb, intransitive:
To underwrite

Make insurance

Verb, transitive:
Arrange for compensation in the event of damage to loss of property or injury to or the death of someone in exchange for regular advance payments to a company or government agency

Provide insurance coverage with respect to

Insure some against a possible contingency

Examples:

Verb:
You would be assured of a fine welcome.

She assured him that the baby was asleep.

Verb, transitive:
Tony assured me that there was a supermarket in the village.

“I quite understand,” Mrs. Lewis assured her.

They assured him of their full confidence.

Victory was now assured.

Their influence assured that the report would be tough.

Verb, intransitive:
You should ensure against that dog biting people.

Verb, transitive:
The client must ensure that accurate records are kept.

She would ensure him a place in society.

Verb, intransitive:
Businesses can insure against exchange rate fluctuations.

Subsidiaries set up to insure the risks of a group of companies.

Such changes could insure against further violence and unrest.

Verb, transitive:
We’ve insured the house with Allstate.

By appeasing Celia they might insure themselves against further misfortune.

Derivatives:

Adjective: unassuring
Noun: assurance, assurer, assuring, assuror
Verb, transitive: interassure, interassured, interassuring, preassure, preassured, preassuring

Noun: ensuring

Adjective: insurable
Noun: insurability, insuring
Verb, transitive: overinsure, overinsured, overinsuring, preinsure, preinsured, preinsuring

History of the Word:

Late Middle English from the Old French assurer which is based on the Latin ad- ‘to’ (expressing change) + securus (secure)

Late Middle English from the Anglo-Norman French enseurer, an alteration of the Old French aseurer, an earlier form of assurer.

Late Middle English , an alteration of ensure.

Probably when they figured out about the money that could be made with insurance premiums . . .

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Assure vs Ensure vs Insure

Apple Dictionary.com

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Pinterest Photo Credits

Caminata por los perros y animales by The Photographer is under the GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. The image was cropped and the left edge was faded to the right.