I. sə̇ˈkyu̇rəd.ē, sēˈ-, -rətē, -i noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English securite, from Latin securitat-, securitas, from securus free from care, safe, secure + -itat-, -itas -ity
1. : the quality or state of being secure: as
a. : freedom from danger : safety
security from famine
security against aggression
everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person — U.N. Declaration of Human Rights
seeking after the illusion of certainty … in the form of a quest for absolute security — E.N.Griswold
b. archaic : carefree or cocky overconfidence
security is mortals' chiefest enemy — Shakespeare
c. : freedom from fear, anxiety, or care
this need for security dates back into infancy — K.C.Garrison
security … thought of as a harmony between internal needs and the social availability of the means for their satisfaction — W.C.Olson
my one chance of security lies in fixing attention solely on the first chapter — Arnold Bennett
d.
(1) : freedom from uncertainty or doubt : confidence , assurance
knowing she still had the security of his faithful devotion — Morley Callaghan
distinguished by a certain security of judgment — J.R.Lowell
(2) : sureness of technique
the cellist plays with great security but overlooks opportunities to let the sunlight in — Arthur Berger
e. : basis for confidence : guarantee
our plan gives us no security that we shall get the steam engine — G.B.Shaw
f. : firmness
security of attachment
: dependability , stability
the security of a knot
a moral poise, a security of values that is very rare in our age — Irving Howe & Eliezer Greenberg
2.
a. : something given, deposited, or pledged to make certain the fulfillment of an obligation (as the payment of a debt) : property given or serving to make secure the enjoyment or enforcement of a right : guaranty , pledge
the security is poor
b. : one who becomes surety for another or engages himself for the performance of another's obligation : surety
was willing to go security for his friend
fined and ordered to find securities for good behavior — Edward Jenks
3. : a written obligation, evidence, or document of ownership or creditorship (as a stock, bond, note, debenture, or certificate) giving the holder the right to demand and receive property not in his possession
a government security
negotiable securities
specifically : one issued to investors to finance a business enterprise
4. : something that secures : defense , protection , guard
their one source of security in a glowering alien climate — A.R.Marcus
as
a. : measures taken (as by a military unit) to ensure against surprise attack
the battalion … set up security — Walter Bernstein
b. : measures taken (as by a national government or a governmental unit) to guard against espionage, observation, sabotage, and surprise
security prevents the reporting of actual production figures — New Republic
c. : protection against economic vicissitudes
government guarantees for old age security — T.W.Arnold
the very heavy emphasis that younger men are now placing on … security — Fortune
d. : penal custody
the new prison system … provides for the care of offenders on the basis of classification as to custody (maximum, medium, and minimum security ) — C.E.Johnson
5. : the resistance of a cryptogram to cryptanalysis measured usually by the time and effort needed to solve it
II.
— an international radiotelephone signal word introducing a safety message