assurance Definition

1. A promise, guarantee or statement that something is true.

Thesaurus: guarantee, insurance, pledge, certainty, promise, security.
2. Confidence and poise.

Thesaurus: confidence, conviction, trust, certainty, faith; Antonym: doubt, misgivings.
(Brit)
3. Insurance, especially life insurance.

There is often confusion between assurance and insurance: with assurance, you have a guarantee of payment of a fixed sum at an agreed time, whereas with insurance, a variable sum is payable only if certain circumstances occur, eg fire or theft.