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insurance

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈʃʊər(ə)ns/

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Definition of insurance

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1an arrangement by which a company or the state undertakes to provide a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in return for payment of a specified premium:many new borrowers take out insurance against unemployment or sickness
  • the business of providing insurance:Howard is in insurance
  • money paid for insurance: my insurance has gone up
  • money paid out as compensation under an insurance policy:when will I be able to collect the insurance?
  • 2a thing providing protection against a possible eventuality:jackets were hung on the back of their chairs, insurance against an encounter with air-conditioning [count noun]:a marquee was hired as an insurance against the weather

Origin:

late Middle English (originally as ensurance in the sense 'ensuring, assurance, a guarantee'): from Old French enseurance, from enseurer (see ensure). insurance (sense 1) dates from the mid 17th century

There is a technical distinction between insurance and assurance in the context of life insurance: see assurance (usage).

insurance in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of insurance in the US English dictionary

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