sureness
(ˈʃʊənɪs, ˈʃɔə-)
Forms: see sure a.
[f. sure a. + -ness.]
The quality or condition of being sure.
† 1. Security, safety; steadfastness, stability. Obs.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 5031, & hym sueth gladnesse Which þat of pees conseilith þe suernesse. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. 5526 Far-wel oure helpe, now Hector is goon, In whom þe surnes of vs euerychon Was wont to reste. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. cxxvi. (1869) 67 The surenesse of the armure. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 123 That han betymes passid this thurghfare, And kowde therin fynde no surenesse. c 1460 Oseney Reg. 13 With þe surenesse [orig. sanctione] of þ{supi}{sups} present letters we make sure [etc.]. a 1500–34 Cov. Corpus Chr. Pl. ii. 238 That in this lande here he schuld make surenes, And he to be cawlid the King of Pes. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 129 Admonishyng hym..not to myngle..his safetie and surenesse, with the vnstablenesse and vnsuretie of his newe alye. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xl. 30 Quhat surenes fand the Bischopis halynes Into Dumbartane? 1650 T. B[ayley] Worcester's Apoph. To Rdr., [Like] the man who went to search after the surenesse of the foundation when his house was all on fire. 1666 T. Watson Godly mans Pict. 96 The Promises are comfortable: 1 For their sureness... 2 For their suitableness. |
† b. to the more sureness or for (more) sureness: to make sure, to be on the safe side, so that there shall be no doubt. Obs.
| c 1450 Godstow Reg. 192 To the more surenesse, this charter is made endented. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 2. (1619) 575 How often for surenes hath the Lord threatned [etc.]. 1668 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 253, I write these few words in the Post-house, for surenesse that my letter be not too late. 1679 Hist. Jetzer 10 M. Magdalene, who devoutly gather'd the Blood that dropt from his wounds as he hung there, and for sureness took up the Earth with it. a 1714 Sharp Serm. Exod. xx. 8 Wks. 1754 IV. 220 They were in doubt which was the right day..and therefore, for sureness, they would keep both. a 1728 Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729) I. 118 He diverted himself..with the Speculation of the Seed of Coral; and, as for more sureness he repeats it, the Sperme of Coral. |
2. a. Objective certainty. † Phr. in sureness or for sureness, for certain, surely, certainly.
| c 1485 Digby Myst., Convers. St. Paul 31, I schall aske of them in suernes, To persue. a 1500 Ratis Raving 3013 For suernes thai wald neuer wyrk. c 1530 Judic. Urines ii. ii. 13 b, Yet is ther no suernys of amendyng. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. Contents, A time beyond which the world shall not hold out, may be fastned on, from the sureness of the bodies rising again. 1849 M. Arnold Poems, To Gipsy Child by Sea-shore 42 That sure pain Whose sureness grey-haired scholars hardly learn! 1871 Burr Ad Fidem xii. 228 Does it follow that they [sc. miracles] have never occurred, or even that they cannot be known with scientific sureness to have occurred? |
b. Subjective certainty.
| a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 26 Faith is a suirness. 1584 Lodge Hist. Forbonius & Prisceria in Alarum etc. G iij, I shall ouerpasse the sorrow by surenesse. 1641 Smectymnuus Vind. Answ. §13. 129 You give us no ground of your surenesse. 1890 Spectator 8 Mar., A strong affection and sureness of faith. 1908 Edin. Rev. Apr. 345 Memoranda collected..gave him the sureness needed for his gigantic undertaking. |
3. The quality of being unfailing or unerring; trustworthiness or accuracy of aim, perception, etc.
| 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville xli. III. 128 The detection of this blunder in the two veterans, who prided themselves on the sureness and quickness of their sight. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xvii. 316 The chamois..with its..admirable sureness of foot. 1883 Manch. Guard. 3 Nov. 7/4 That network of agencies which in England is, with characteristic slowness, but we hope also with characteristic sureness, developing into a real system of national education. 1912 J. L. Myres Dawn Hist. viii. 181 An artistic style..able to draw inspiration from other styles..without losing the sureness of its own touch. |