Meanings
present singular third person ensures · participle present ensuring · participle past ensured · past ensured
- intransitiveTo make sure or certain of something (usually some future event or condition).First known use 18th c.
I use an alarm clock to ensure that I get up on time.
1 more example
British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.
2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848 - obsoletetransitiveTo make a pledge to (someone); to promise, guarantee (someone of something); to assure.First known use 14th–18th c.
Thenne he cryed hym mercy and sayd Faire knyght for goddes loue slee me not / and I shall ensure the neuer werre ageynst thy lady / but be alwey toward her / Thenne Bors lete hym be
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xvj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVI
Synonyms & antonyms
verbbe careful or certain to do something; make certain of something
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchseur“sure”
- Anglo-Normanenseurer
- Middle Englishensuren
- Englishensure
From Middle English ensuren, from Anglo-Norman enseurer, from Old French seur (“sure”). Doublet of insure.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque segurtatu
- segurtatumake sure or certain
Bulgarian осигурявам, осигуря́
- осигурявам (osigurjavam)make sure or certain
- осигуря́ (osigurjá)make sure or certain
Chinese Mandarin 確保 /确保
- 確保 /确保 (quèbǎo)make sure or certain
Czech zajistit
- zajistitmake sure or certain
Dutch garanderen, verzekeren
- garanderenmake sure or certain
- verzekerenmake sure or certain
- waarborgenmake sure or certain
Finnish varmistaa
- varmistaamake sure or certain
French s'assurer, garantir
- s'assurermake sure or certain
- garantirmake sure or certain
- assurermake sure or certain
German sicherstellen, gewährleisten
- sicherstellenmake sure or certain
- gewährleistenmake sure or certain
Hungarian gondoskodik, tesz róla
- gondoskodikmake sure or certain
- tesz rólamake sure or certain
- gondja van rámake sure or certain
- biztosítmake sure or certain
Italian garantire, assicurare
- garantiremake sure or certain
- assicuraremake sure or certain
- fare in modo chemake sure or certain
Māori whakatūturu
- whakatūturumake sure or certain
Polish zapewnić, zapewniać
- zapewnićmake sure or certain
- zapewniaćmake sure or certain
- upewnićmake sure or certain
- upewniaćmake sure or certain
- utwierdzićmake sure or certain
Portuguese garantir, assegurar
- garantirmake sure or certain
- assegurarmake sure or certain
Romanian asigura
- asiguramake sure or certain
Russian удостове́риться, убеди́ться
- удостове́риться (udostovéritʹsja)make sure or certain
- убеди́ться (ubedítʹsja)make sure or certain
- страхова́ться (straxovátʹsja)make sure or certain
- подстрахова́ться (podstraxovátʹsja)make sure or certain
Spanish asegurarse, garantizarse
- asegurarsemake sure or certain
- garantizarsemake sure or certain
- velar pormake sure or certain
Swedish se till, säkerställa
- se tillmake sure or certain
- säkerställamake sure or certain
Turkish sağlamak, garantiye almak
- sağlamakmake sure or certain
- garantiye almakmake sure or certain
- emin olmakmake sure or certain
- güvence vermekmake sure or certain
Ukrainian забезпе́чувати, забезпе́чити
- забезпе́чувати (zabezpéčuvaty)make sure or certain
- забезпе́чити (zabezpéčyty)make sure or certain
- гарантува́ти (harantuváty)make sure or certain
Welsh sicrháu
- sicrháumake sure or certain
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ensure
Anagrams
Cite this entry
ensure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ensure
“ensure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ensure. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ensure,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ensure.
Source: ensure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.