Assurance, n.
Etymology: [OE. assuraunce, F. assurance, fr. assurer. See Assure.]
1. The act of assuring; a declaration tending to inspire full confidence; that which is designed to give confidence. Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Acts xvii. 31. Assurances of support came pouring in daily. Macaulay.
2. The state of being assured; firm persuasion; full confidence or trust; freedom from doubt; certainty. Let us draw with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Heb. x. 22.
3. Firmness of mind; undoubting, steadiness; intrepidity; courage; confidence; self-reliance. Brave men meet danger with assurance. Knolles. Conversation with the world will give them knowledge and assurance. Locke.
4. Excess of boldness; impudence; audacity; as, his assurance is intolerable.
6 more senses
5. Betrothal; affiance. [Obs.] Sir P. Sidney.
6. Insurance; a contract for the payment of a sum on occasion of a certain event, as loss or death.
Note: Recently, assurance has been used, in England, 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. See Insurance.
7. (Law)
Any written or other legal evidence of the conveyance of property; a conveyance; a deed.
Note: In England, the legal evidences of the conveyance of property are called the common assurances of the kingdom. Blackstone.
Shades of meaning
Assurance may have the good sense of a high, sustained confidence and trust; as, the saint's assurance of heaven. Confidence is founded upon reasons; assurance is largely a matter of feeling. In the bad sense, assurance is a vicious courage, with belief of one's ability to outwit or defy others; the hardened criminal is remarkable for habitual assurance. For the calm conviction of one's own rectitude and ability, self-confidence is a better word than assurance; self-reliance expresses confidence in one's own resources, independently of others' aid. In the bad sense assurance is less gross than impudence, which is (according to its etymology) a shameless boldness. Assurance is in act or manner; impudence may be in speech. Effrontery is impudence defiantly displayed. Compare faith; pride.