Security
How We Say It
si·kyoor·i·tee
Where It Comes From
Latin securitas — freedom from care. From se- (without) + cura (care, worry). Security was originally about freedom from anxiety — a psychological state. The physical and political senses of protection from external threat came later.
How It's Been Used
After 9/11, 'security' became the organizing word of American domestic policy — Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, security theater. The word's authority is hard to challenge: to oppose security measures is to accept insecurity. This rhetorical structure has been noted and criticized across the political spectrum.