assurance

Etymology

From Middle English assuraunce, from Old French asseürance, from asseürer; as if assure + -ance.

noun

1. The act of assuring; a declaration tending to inspire full confidence; something designed to give confidence.
2. The state of being assured; total confidence or trust; a lack of doubt; certainty.
3. Firmness of mind; undoubting steadiness; intrepidity; courage; confidence; self-reliance.
4. Excessive boldness; impudence; audacity
   his assurance is intolerable
   You confined to the society of the illiterate and vulgar all your life! I wonder how the young man could have the assurance to ask it. He must have a pretty good opinion of himself. 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume I, chapter 7
5. (obsolete) Betrothal; affiance.
6. (insurance) Insurance; a contract for the payment of a sum on occasion of a certain event, as loss or death. Assurance is used in relation to life contingencies, and insurance in relation to other contingencies. It is called temporary assurance, in the time within which the contingent event must happen is limited.
7. (law) Any written or other legal evidence of the conveyance of property; a conveyance; a deed.
8. (theology) Subjective certainty of one's salvation.