Other forms: guaranteed, guarantees, guaranteeing
A guarantee is a promise to put things right if a product fails. A two-year guarantee, under guarantee, the guarantee has run out.
It works as both noun and verb: the kettle is guaranteed for two years. In consumer law the distinction from a warranty is subtle and jurisdiction-dependent, and in Britain your statutory rights exist regardless of either. The second sense is a general promise: I guarantee you will hear about it, there is no guarantee it will work. Note the spelling, with the u after the g and the ee at the end, which is among the harder ordinary words to spell.
1nounguaranteeA promise to repair or replace something if it fails.
“The guarantee covers parts but not labour.”
2verbhappenTo promise that something will happen or is true.
“I guarantee somebody will complain about it.”
3nounoutcomeSomething that makes an outcome certain.
“There is no guarantee of a place.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
guarantee is a promise of security.
The word came through French from a Germanic root meaning to protect — the same root as warrant, which is the same word arriving by a different route with a w instead of a g. English has both, and they split the work between commerce and law.
Old French
guarantie
English, today
guarantee
Built from
From Old French guarantie. From Old French guarantie (perhaps via a later Spanish garante), from the verb guarantir (“to protect, assure, vouch for”), ultimately from Old Frankish warjand, warand (“a warrant”), or from guaranty. a doublet of guaranty and warranty.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA