# certain
## English
### Alternative forms

* certaine (obsolete)
* certayne (archaic)
* certeine (archaic)

### Etymology

From Middle English certeyn, certein, certain, borrowed from Old French certain, from a 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”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsɜːtən/, /ˈsɜːtn̩/
* (General American, Canada) IPA: /ˈsɝtən/, /ˈsɝtn̩/, /ˈsɝʔn̩/
* Audio (Canada):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: cer‧tain
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən

### Adjective

certain (comparative more certain or certainer, superlative most certain or certainest)
* Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:certain
    I was certain of my decision.
** 1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter VIII, in Peter Simple. […], volume III, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 113:[…] I think, nay, I may say that I'm sartain, we'll have a hurricane afore morning. It's not the first time I've cruised in these latitudes.
* Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
    Now that more experiments have been run, the theory is certain and the argument is settled.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 2:45, column 1:[…] the dreame is certaine, and the interpretation thereof ſure.
* Sure to happen, inevitable; assured.
    It is certain that Spain will reach the finals. / Spain is now certain to reach the finals. / Spain is now certain of a place in the finals.
    Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.
** c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC,:[…] death (as the Pſalmiſt ſaith) is certaine to all, all ſhall die.
** 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, Act II, page 29:How vain is Virtue which directs our ways Through certain danger to uncertain praiſe!
* Unfailing; infallible.
** 1702, Richard Mead, Mechanical Account of Poisons:I have often wished, that I knew so certain a remedy in any other disease
* Fixed; regular; determinate.
    at certain intervals
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 16:4, column 1:Then ſaid the Lord vnto Moſes, Behold, I will raine bread from heauen for you: and the people ſhall goe out, and gather a certaine rate euery day, that I may proue them, whether they will walke in my Law, or no.
* Particular and definite, but unspecified or unnamed; used to introduce someone or something without going into further detail.
    Every wine has a certain distinctive character which sets it apart from all others.
    Each morning, she would see a certain man rush past her window on his way to work.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 5:12, column 1:And it came to paſſe, when he was in a certaine citie […]
** 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “[Contributions to the Encyclopædia Britannica.] Oliver Goldsmith.”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC, page 365:About everything that he wrote, serious or sportive, there was a certain natural grace and decorum […]
* (euphemistic, preceded by "a") Used to denote that the speaker is referring to a specific person or thing that they do not want to name directly, implying that the listener should infer the identity of the referent.
    I would have been here on time, but a certain someone lost the car keys!
* (preceded by "a", of a person) Named but not previously mentioned.
    Synonym: one
    Looking inside the cover, they learned that the book had once belonged to a certain R. Jones.
** 1972, Burton Pasternak, “Kinship”, in Kinship & Community in Two Chinese Villages‎, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 75–76:About 140 years ago, for example, a certain Hsü Kuang-ming established an ancestral estate in Wanluan consisting of ten hectares. The trust was specifically set aside to provide for his own worship after death, and access to its profits was to be enjoyed only by his descendants.
* (preceded by "a", of a person) Used before the name of someone famous that people are expected to know.
    Synonym: one
    Since the last British government to make such a proposal was that of a certain Margaret Thatcher, it might not seem unreasonable.
* (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 952–953:However I with thee have fixt my Lot, Certain to undergoe like doom […]

#### Synonyms

* (sure to happen): unavoidable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “not doubting”): uncertain
* (antonym(s) of “sure to happen”): impossible, incidental
* (antonym(s) of “known but not named”): particular specific

#### Derived terms

* certain as death and taxes
* certain as death or taxes
* certain event
* certainly (adverb)
* certainness
* certain person
* certainty (noun)
* for certain
* make certain
* noncertain
* nothing is certain but death and taxes
* of a certain
* of a certain age

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Determiner

certain
* Having been determined but not specified.
    Certain people are good at running.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 26: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.”

#### Translations
### Pronoun

certain
* (with of) Unnamed or undescribed members (of).
    Synonym: some
    She mentioned a series of contracts, of which certain are not cited.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 23:12, column 2:[…] certaine of the Jewes banded together […]

### Further reading

* “certain”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* “certain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “certain”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* tacrine, nacrite, tricane, Cretian, ant rice, crinate, anticer, Rectina, ceratin, citrean, Catrine, cantier, creatin, tercian

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French certain, from Vulgar Latin unattested form *certānus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛʁ.tɛ̃/, (in laison) /sɛʁ.tɛ.n‿/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

certain (feminine certaine, masculine plural certains, feminine plural certaines)
* certain, guaranteed (sure, positive)
    sûr et certain ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    une victoire certaine ― a sure victory
    Il est certain qu’il viendra.It is certain that he will arrive.
* certain (specified, particular)
* certain (of indefinite, unknown or simply unmentioned identity, quality or quantity) (prepositive to the noun it modifies, and usually preceded by an indefinite article)
    dans une certaine mesure ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    d’un certain âge ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    un ’’’certain nombre de ― a certain number of
    une certaine femme ― a certain woman

#### Derived terms

* certainement
* incertain

#### Related terms

* certitude

### Determiner

certain m (feminine certaine, masculine plural certains, feminine plural certaines)
* certain: a determined but unspecified amount of; some

#### Usage notes

* The plurals certains and certaines are generally not used with articles, functioning much like articles themselves. Nevertheless, particularly in circumstantial and objective complements introduced by à (including such compounds as jusqu’à), they are sometimes supported by the indefinite article de — not to be confused with the preposition de:
** à de certaines heures du matin
** par rapport à de certains pays voisins
** s'avancer jusqu'à de certaines limites
** s'attendre à de certaines conditions

### References

* ↑ “certain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* carient, centrai, cernait, crainte, criante, écriant, encirât, encrait

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* chertain (Picardy)

### Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *certānus, derived from Latin certus.

### Adjective

certain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular certaine)
* certain; sure

#### Synonyms

* seur

#### Related terms

* cert

#### Descendants

* French: certain
* → Middle English: certeyn
** English: certain