EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English certain, certein, from Old French certain, from Vulgar Latin unattested form *certānus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”), of the same origin as cretus, past participle of cernere (“to separate, perceive, decide”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English, ġewiss (“certain, sure”) and alternative Middle English spelling sertane (“some, certain”)
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɜːtn̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɝtn̩/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈsɝtən/, /ˈsɝtn̩/
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Audio (CA) (file) -
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(r)tən
- Hyphenation: cer‧tain
AdjectiveEdit
certain (comparative more certain, superlative most certain)
- Sure, positive, not doubting.
- I was certain of my decision.
- (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
- Milton
- However, I with thee have fixed my lot, / Certain to undergo like doom.
- Milton
- Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
- Bible, Dan. ii. 45
- The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
- Bible, Dan. ii. 45
- Actually existing; sure to happen; inevitable.
- Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.
- Dryden
- Virtue that directs our ways / Through certain dangers to uncertain praise.
- Shakespeare
- Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all.
- Unfailing; infallible.
- Mead
- I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper.
- Mead
- Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.
- Bible, Ex. xvi. 4
- The people go out and gather a certain rate every day.
- Bible, Ex. xvi. 4
- Not specifically named; indeterminate; indefinite; one or some; sometimes used independently as a noun, and meaning certain persons.
- Bible, Luke v. 12
- It came to pass when he was in a certain city.
- Macaulay
- About everything he wrote there was a certain natural grace and decorum.
- Bible, Luke v. 12
SynonymsEdit
- See also Wikisaurus:certain
AntonymsEdit
- (not doubting): uncertain
- (sure to happen): impossible, incidental
Derived termsEdit
- certainly adv
Related termsEdit
- certainty noun
TranslationsEdit
sure, positive, not doubting
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
DeterminerEdit
certain
- Having been determined but unspecified. The quality of some particular subject or object which is known by the speaker to have been specifically singled out among similar entities of its class.
- Bible, Acts xxiii. 12
- Certain of the Jews banded together.
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1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, The Mirror and the Lamp[1]:
- One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”
- Certain people are good at running.
- Bible, Acts xxiii. 12
TranslationsEdit
having been determined but unspecified
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StatisticsEdit
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Most common English words before 1923: often · themselves · half · #269: certain · sent · keep · myself
External linksEdit
- certain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- certain in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French certain, from Vulgar Latin unattested form *certānus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
certain m (feminine certaine, masculine plural certains, feminine plural certaines)
- certain (sure, positive)
- Il est certain qu'il viendra.
- It is certain that he will arrive.
- Il est certain qu'il viendra.
- certain (fixed, determined)
- certain (specified, particular)
NounEdit
certain m (plural certains)
DeterminerEdit
certain
- certain; a determined but unspecified amount of
- Certaines personnes vont aller.
- Certain people are going.
- Certaines personnes vont aller.
Related termsEdit
AnagramsEdit
External linksEdit
- “certain” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).