n. [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Acts xvii. 31. [ 1913 Webster ]

Assurances of support came pouring in daily. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being assured; firm persuasion; full confidence or trust; freedom from doubt; certainty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let us draw with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Heb. x. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Firmness of mind; undoubting, steadiness; intrepidity; courage; confidence; self-reliance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brave men meet danger with assurance. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conversation with the world will give them knowledge and assurance. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Excess of boldness; impudence; audacity; as, his assurance is intolerable. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Betrothal; affiance. [ Obs. ] Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Insurance; a contract for the payment of a sum on occasion of a certain event, as loss or death. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Law) Any written or other legal evidence of the conveyance of property; a conveyance; a deed. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In England, the legal evidences of the conveyance of property are called the common assurances of the kingdom. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Co- + insurance. ] Insurance jointly with another or others; specif., that system of fire insurance in which the insurer is treated as insuring himself to the extent of that part of the risk not covered by his policy, so that any loss is apportioned between him and the insurance company on the principle of average, as in marine insurance or between other insurers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A form of medical insurance that pays for all or part of the fees for a person's residence and treatment in a hospital. [ PJC ]

n. [ From Insure. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of insuring, or assuring, against loss or damage by a contingent event; a contract whereby, for a stipulated consideration, called premium, one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by certain specified risks. Cf. Assurance, n., 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The person who undertakes to pay in case of loss is termed the insurer; the danger against which he undertakes, the risk; the person protected, the insured; the sum which he pays for the protection, the premium; and the contract itself, when reduced to form, the policy. Johnson's Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The premium paid for insuring property or life. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The sum for which life or property is insured. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A guaranty, security, or pledge; assurance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The most acceptable insurance of the divine protection. Mickle. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Hence: Any means of assuring against loss; a precaution; as, we always use our seat belts as insurance against injury. [ PJC ]

Accident insurance, insurance against pecuniary loss by reason of accident to the person. --
Endowment insurance or
Endowment assurance, a combination of life insurance and investment such that if the person upon whose life a risk is taken dies before a certain specified time the insurance becomes due at once, and if he survives, it becomes due at the time specified. Also called whole life insurance. --
Fire insurance. See under Fire. --
Insurance broker, a broker or agent who effects insurance. --
Insurance company, a company or corporation whose business it is to insure against loss, damage, or death. --
Insurance policy, a certificate of insurance; the document containing the contract made by an insurance company with a person whose property or life is insured. --
Life insurance. See under Life. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who effects insurance; an insurer; an underwriter. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

hose bold insurancers of deathless fame. Blair. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Previous assurance. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Assurance or confirmation renewed or repeated. Prynne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Same as Reinsurance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Insurance a second time or again; renewed insurance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A contract by which an insurer is insured wholly or in part against the risk he has incurred in insuring somebody else. See Reassurance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Assurance. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Insurance for a specified term providing for no payment to the insured except upon losses during the term, and becoming void upon its expiration. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Life Insurance) Insurance in which the benefits of the insurance are distributed upon the tontine principle. Under the old, or
full tontine, plan, all benefits were forfeited on lapsed policies, on the policies of those who died within the tontine period only the face of the policy was paid without any share of the surplus, and the survivor at the end of the tontine period received the entire surplus. This plan of tontine insurance has been replaced in the United States by the
semitontine plan, in which the surplus is divided among the holders of policies in force at the termination of the tontine period, but the reverse for the paid-up value is paid on lapsed policies, and on the policies of those that have died the face is paid. Other modified forms are called free tontine, deferred dividend, etc., according to the nature of the tontine arrangement. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. Wildcat insurance. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]