certain
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɜːtən/
ipa: /ˈsɜːtn̩/
ipa: /ˈsɝtən/
ipa: /ˈsɝtn̩/
ipa: /ˈsɝʔn̩/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən
Forms: form: more certain
form: certainer
form: most certain
form: certainest
form: certaine
form: certayne
form: certeine
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”).
Senses: examples: text: I was certain of my decision.
text: […] 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.
ref: 1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter VIII, in Peter Simple. […], volume III, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 113:
glosses: Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
examples: text: Now that more experiments have been run, the theory is certain and the argument is settled.
text: […]the dreame is certaine, and the interpretation thereof ſure.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 2:45, column 1:
glosses: Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
examples: text: 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.
text: Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.
text: […]death (as the Pſalmiſt ſaith) is certaine to all, all ſhall die.
ref: 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, [Act III, scene ii]:
text: How vain is Virtue which directs our ways
 Through certain danger to uncertain praiſe!
ref: 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, Act II, page 29:
glosses: Sure to happen, inevitable; assured.
examples: text: I have often wished, that I knew so certain a remedy in any other disease
ref: 1702, Richard Mead, Mechanical Account of Poisons:
glosses: Unfailing; infallible.
examples: text: at certain intervals
text: 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.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 16:4, column 1:
glosses: Fixed; regular; determinate.
examples: text: Every wine has a certain distinctive character which sets it apart from all others.
text: Each morning, she would see a certain man rush past her window on his way to work.
text: And it came to paſſe, when he was in a certaine citie[…]
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 5:12, column 1:
text: About everything that he wrote, serious or sportive, there was a certain natural grace and decorum[…]
ref: 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:
glosses: Particular and definite, but unspecified or unnamed; used to introduce someone or something without going into further detail.
examples: text: I would have been here on time, but a certain someone lost the car keys!
qualifier: preceded by "a"
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Looking inside the cover, they learned that the book had once belonged to a certain R. Jones.
text: 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.
ref: 1972, Burton Pasternak, “Kinship”, in Kinship & Community in Two Chinese Villages, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 75–76:
synonyms: one
qualifier: preceded by "a"
glosses: Named but not previously mentioned.
raw_tags: of a person
examples: text: Since the last British government to make such a proposal was that of a certain Margaret Thatcher, it might not seem unreasonable.
synonyms: one
qualifier: preceded by "a"
glosses: Used before the name of someone famous that people are expected to know.
raw_tags: of a person
examples: text: However I with thee have fixt my Lot,
 Certain to undergoe like doom[…]
ref: 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:
glosses: Determined; resolved.
Synonyms: sense: sure to happen
word: unavoidable
word: assured
word: certain
word: clear
word: confident
word: definite
word: doubtless
word: positive
word: sicker
word: sure
word: unambiguous
word: unequivocal
word: univocal
word: unwavering
word: wis
Derived terms: word: certain as death and taxes
word: certain as death or taxes
word: certain event
word: certainly
word: certainness
word: certain person
word: certainty
word: for certain
word: make certain
word: noncertain
word: nothing is certain but death and taxes
word: of a certain
word: of a certain age
Related terms: word: intentional
word: irrefutable
word: fated