surety

English

Etymology

From Middle English surete, attested since the early 1300s in the sense "guarantee, promise, pledge, assurance", from Anglo-Norman seurté/Old French seurté with the same meaning (whence modern French sûreté), from Latin sēcūritās. Equivalent to sure +‎ -ty. The senses "security, safety, stability" and "certainy" are attested since the late 1300s. "One who undertakes to pay if another does not" is from the early 1400s. Doublet of security.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃʊəɹɪti/, /ˈʃɔːɹɪti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃʊɹəti/, /ˈʃʊəɹəti/

Noun

surety (countable and uncountable, plural sureties)

1. Certainty.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 15:13:

     Know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs.

   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia, London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

     For the more surety they looked round about.

2. That which makes sure; that which confirms; ground of confidence or security.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     [We] our happy state
     Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds;
     On other surety none.

3. (law) A promise to pay a sum of money in the event that another person fails to fulfill an obligation.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     There remains unpaid
     A hundred thousand more; in surety of the which
     One part of Aquitaine is bound to us.

4. (law) One who undertakes to pay money or perform other acts in the event that his principal fails therein.

   Synonym: suretor

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 11:15:

     He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it.

   • 2024 March 20, “New York attorney general could soon move to seize Trump’s property”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Trump’s lawyers said two days ago that to post a bond covering the full amount of the $454m civil fraud judgment against him while he appeals was “a practical impossibility” after 30 surety companies turned him down.

5. A substitute; a hostage.
   • 1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:

     ...It happen’d on a solemn eventide,
     Soon after He that was our surety died,
     Two bosom friends, each pensively inclined,
     The scene of all those sorrows left behind,
     Sought their own village, busied as they went
     In musings worthy of the great event:
     They spake of Him they loved, of Him whose life,
     Though blameless, had incurr’d perpetual strife,
     Whose deeds had left, in spite of hostile arts,
     A deep memorial graven on their hearts...

6. Evidence; confirmation; warrant.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:

     She called the saints to surety,
     That she would never put it from her finger,
     Unless she gave it to yourself.

Derived terms

• of a surety
• surety bond

 

Translations

certainty — see certainty

law: promise to pay on behalf of another

• Dutch: borgtocht (nl)
• Finnish: takaus (fi)
• French: cautionnement (fr) m
• German: Bürgschaft (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: ῥύσιον n (rhúsion)

• Hungarian: (készfizető/készpénzfizető) kezesség, jótállás (hu)
• Italian: fideiussione (it)
• Korean: 보증 (ko) (bojeung)
• Latin: vas (la) n
• Portuguese: caução (pt) f
• Russian: пору́ка (ru) f (porúka)
• Spanish: fianza (es) f
• Swedish: borgen (sv)

law: one who undertakes such promise

• Bulgarian: поръчител (bg) m (porǎčitel)
• Dutch: borg (nl) m, borgsteller (nl) m
• Finnish: takaaja (fi)
• French: caution (fr) f
• German: Bürge (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: βεβαιωτής m (bebaiōtḗs)

• Hungarian: kezes (hu), készfizető kezes, készpénzfizető kezes
• Irish: urra m
• Italian: fideiussore m
• Latin: fidēiussor m
• Polish: poręczyciel (pl) m
• Portuguese: fiador (pt) m
• Spanish: fiador (es) m
• Swedish: borgensman (sv)
• Welsh: mechnïwr m, mechnïydd m

See also

• guarantor
• surcharge
• surcharged
• indorsement

Anagrams

• Steury, tuyers