Guarantee

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/

Definitions

1. A commitment that ensures the fulfillment of a specific condition or outcome
2. A formal assurance that a product or service will meet certain standards or that a condition will be fulfilled ; to pledge or assure that something will happen as stated or promised
3. An official promise guaranteeing the quality, reliability, or performance of an item or service ; to give a formal commitment to ensure the success or quality of something

Etymology: The English word "guarantee" arrived through Old French, where "guarantie" meant a protection or assurance. That French noun came from the verb "guarantir," "to protect, assure, vouch for," and the verb is ultimately traceable to a Germanic root in Old Frankish, the language of the Franks who settled in what is now France. The Frankish forms, reconstructed as "warjand" and "warand," meant something like "a warrant," a guarantee of safety or title. The same ancestral root gave English "warrant," so the two words are close relatives. "Guarantee" and "guaranty" are doublets: two words that developed separately from one source and came into English at different times, with "guaranty" keeping the older, more legal sense of a formal pledge. "Warranty" is a third member of the same family, having passed through French in the form "warantie" and taking a Norman-influenced spelling in English. The Spanish "garante," which may sit between Old French and the modern form, shows the same root travelling along the Romance languages.

Synonyms: ensure, promise, warrant, secure, vouch

Antonyms: breach, violate, disclaim