incertain
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English incertayne, borrowed from Middle French incertain, derived in the 14th c. from certain, after Latin incertus (“uncertain”). By surface analysis, in- + certain.[1][2]
Adjective edit
incertain (comparative more incertain, superlative most incertain)
- (obsolete) Not certain, uncertain.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 71, column 2, lines 126–128:
- ...or to be worse then worst
Of those, that lawlesse and incertaine thought,
Imagine howling, 'tis too horrible.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
- And again, that as these acquisitions are in themselves generally worthless, so are the means to attain them not only base and infamous, but at best incertain, and always full of danger.
Synonyms edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ “incertain” in the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 8th Edition (1932–35).
- ^ “incertain(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019.
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.sɛʁ.tɛ̃/
Audio (France, Paris) (file) - Homophone: incertains
Adjective edit
incertain (feminine incertaine, masculine plural incertains, feminine plural incertaines)
Further reading edit
- “incertain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.