Field

From Marshall Field's family plot in Graceland in Chicago.



I posted another picture of her here.

insure vs. ensure

This is a pet peeve of mine. "Insure" means to promise to compensate for loss or damage. "Ensure" means to take precaution that loss or damage does not occur. Or at least to take a certain action. Like to "ensure that all doors are locked," would mean to lock them or verify that they are locked.

Or maybe the difference is not so clear.

I think those are the best and most precise meanings, and that's how I've always used them, but if you look them up you'll probably find that they're synonyms for each other. And for "assure" as well. Is this a case of common usage dictating definition, or has common usage caused the meanings to differ slightly?