certain

See also: Certain and cèrtain

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^(key): /ˈsɜːtn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝtn̩/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝtən/, /ˈsɝtn̩/

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən
• Hyphenation: cer‧tain

Adjective

certain (comparative more certain, superlative most certain)

1. Sure, positive, not doubting.

   I was certain of my decision.

   Spain is now certain of a place in the finals.

2. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 952–953:

     However I with thee have fixt my Lot, / Certain to undergoe like doom […]

3. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Daniel 2:45, column 1:

     […] the dreame is certaine, and the interpretation thereof ſure.

4. Actually existing; sure to happen; inevitable.

   Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.

   • c. 1596–1599, 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 55178895, [Act III, scene ii]:

     […] 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 228724395, Act II, page 29:

     How vain is Virtue which directs our ways / Through certain danger to uncertain praiſe!

5. Unfailing; infallible.
   • 1702, Richard Mead, Mechanical Account of Poisons

     I have often wished, that I knew so certain a remedy in any other disease

6. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 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.

7. Known but not specifically named; indeterminate; indefinite; one or some; sometimes used independently as a noun, and meaning certain persons; see also "one".
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 5:12, column 1:

     And it came to paſſe, when he was in a certaine citie […]

   • 1856 February​, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith [from the Encyclopædia Britannica]”, 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 30956848, page 365:

     About everything that he wrote, serious or sportive, there was a certain natural grace and decorum […]

Synonyms

• (not doubting): See also Thesaurus:certain
• (sure to happen): unavoidable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable

Antonyms

• (not doubting): uncertain
• (sure to happen): impossible, incidental
• (known but not named): particular specific

Derived terms

• certainly (adv)

Related terms

• certainty (n)

Translations

sure, positive, not doubting

• Arabic: أَكِيد‎ (ʾakīd), (said of a person) مُتَأَكِّد‎ (mutaʾakkid)
• Armenian: հաստատուն (hy) (hastatun)
• Asturian: ciertu
• Azerbaijani: əmin
• Belarusian: упэ́ўнены (upéŭnjeny), пэ́ўны (be) (péŭny)
• Bulgarian: си́гурен (bg) (síguren), уве́рен (bg) (uvéren)
• Catalan: cert (ca)
• Chamicuro: akachelo'ta
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 肯定 (zh) (kěndìng), 確切 (zh), 确切 (zh) (quèqiè), 一定 (zh) (yīdìng)

• Czech: jistý (cs) m
• Danish: sikker (da) c, sikkert (da) n, sikre pl
• Dutch: zeker (nl)
• Esperanto: certa
• Finnish: varma (fi)
• French: certain (fr)
• Friulian: ciert, sigûr, positîv
• Georgian: უეჭველი (ueč̣veli), უდავო (udavo)
• German: gewiss (de), sicher (de)
• Greek: βέβαιος (el) m (vévaios)

  Ancient: ἔμπεδος (émpedos)

• Hungarian: biztos (hu), bizonyos (hu)
• Icelandic: viss (is) m, öruggur (is) m
• Ido: certa (io)
• Irish: cinnte, dearfa, deimhin
• Istriot: sierto
• Italian: certo (it), sicuro (it) m
• Japanese: 確か (ja) (たしか, tashika), 一定 (ja) (いってい, ittei), 定か (さだか, sadaka), 特定の (ja) (とくていの, tokutei no)
• Khmer: ជាក់លាក់ (cĕəklĕək)
• Korean: 확실하다 (ko) (hwaksilhada)

• Ladin: cert, cërt
• Latin: certus, fidus
• Macedonian: сигурен (siguren), уверен (uveren)
• Maltese: ċert m, ċerta f, ċerti pl
• Maori: taketake
• Norwegian: sikker (no), viss (no)
• Oriya: ନିର୍ଦ୍ଦିଷ୍ଟ (or) (nirddiṣṭô)
• Plautdietsch: wess
• Polish: pewny (pl) m
• Portuguese: certo (pt)
• Romanian: cert (ro), anume (ro), sigur (ro)
• Russian: уве́ренный (ru) (uvérennyj), (of a fact) определённый (ru) (opredeljónnyj)
• Sardinian: certu, tzertu, tzeltu
• Scottish Gaelic: cinnteach, deimhinne
• Serbo-Croatian: sȉgūran (sh)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: си̏гӯран, у̀верен

  Roman: sȉgūran (sh), ùveren

• Sicilian: certu
• Slovak: istý
• Slovene: gotov
• Spanish: cierto (es)
• Swedish: säker (sv) c, säkert (sv) n, säkra (sv) pl
• Tetum: tebes
• Thai: แน่นอน (th) (nɛ̂ɛ-nɔɔn)
• Turkish: kesin (tr), emin (tr)
• Ukrainian: упе́внений (upévnenyj), пе́вний (uk) (pévnyj)
• Venetian: çerto, serto, certo
• Vietnamese: chắc chắn (vi)
• Yiddish: זיכער‎ (zikher)

not specifically named, indeterminate, indefinite

• Arabic: بَعْض‎ (baʿḍ)
• Azerbaijani: müəyyən (az)
• Belarusian: які́сьці (jakísʹci), не́йкі (njéjki), які́сь (jakísʹ)
• Bulgarian: някакъв (njakakǎv), някой си (njakoj si)
• Catalan: cert (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有的 (zh) (yǒu de), 某 (zh) (mǒu)

• Czech: nějaký (cs)
• Dutch: zekere (nl), bepaalde (nl)
• Finnish: eräs (fi), yksi (fi)
• French: certain (fr), quelconque (fr)
• German: gewiss (de), irgendein (de)

• Greek:

  Ancient: τις (tis)

• Hungarian: bizonyos (hu), egyes (hu), némely (hu), egyfajta, egynémely
• Ido: certena (io)
• Italian: certo (it) m, tale (it)
• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru)
• Korean: 어느 (ko) (eoneu), 특정(特定) (ko) (teukjeong)
• Polish: jakiś (pl)
• Russian: не́который (ru) (nékotoryj), како́й-то (ru) (kakój-to), не́кий (ru) (nékij)
• Slovak: nejaký
• Spanish: cierto (es)
• Swahili: fulani (sw)
• Ukrainian: яки́йсь (uk) (jakýjsʹ), котри́йсь (kotrýjsʹ), де́який (uk) (déjakyj)
• Yiddish: געוויס‎ (gevis)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: certa (1), certena (2)
• Indonesian: tertentu, yakin, merasa pasti

• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} నిశ్చయం (te) (niścayaṃ)

Determiner

certain

1. Having been determined but not specified. 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.

   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 4293071, 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

having been determined but not specified

• Arabic: مُحَدَّد‎ (muḥaddad)
• Belarusian: не́йкі m (njéjki)
• Bulgarian: определен (bg) (opredelen)
• Catalan: cert (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 某 (zh) (mǒu), 有的 (zh) (yǒude)

• Czech: jistý (cs) m, určitý (cs) m
• Dalmatian: ciart
• Danish: vis (da) c, vist n, visse pl
• Esperanto: certa
• Finnish: tietty (fi), muuan (fi), eräät pl
• French: certain (fr)
• Galician: certo (gl)
• Georgian: გარკვეული (garḳveuli)
• German: bestimmt (de), gewiss (de)

• Hungarian: bizonyos (hu), egyes (hu), némely (hu)
• Icelandic: ákveðinn (is) m, viss (is) m
• Italian: determinato (it)
• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru), とある (toaru)
• Latin: quīdam (la)
• Norwegian: viss (no) m or f, visst (no) n, visse (no) pl, enkelte (no)
• Portuguese: certo (pt) m
• Romanian: anumit (ro)
• Russian: не́который (ru) (nékotoryj), определённый (ru) (opredeljónnyj), не́кий (ru) (nékij)
• Serbo-Croatian: òdrēđen (sh), nȅkī
• Spanish: cierto (es) m, cierta (es) f
• Swedish: viss (sv) c, visst (sv) n, vissa (sv) pl
• Turkish: belli (tr), malum (tr), belirli (tr), muayyen (tr)
• Ukrainian: пе́вний (uk) (pévnyj), де́який (uk) (déjakyj)
• Yiddish: געוויס‎ (gevis)

Pronoun

certain

1. (with of) Unnamed or undescribed members (of).

   She mentioned a series of contracts, of which certain are not cited.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 23:12, column 2:

     […] certaine of the Jewes banded together […]

Synonyms

• (unnamed or undescribed members (of)): some

Noun

certain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something certain.
   • 2011, John Lyons, The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature‎^[1]:

     Thinking about the uncertain refines our perception of the certain, and generally this takes place in a framework in which the uncertain is the future and the certain is the present.

Further reading

• certain at OneLook Dictionary Search
• certain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• certain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cretian, ant rice, anticer, cantier, ceratin, citrean, creatin, crinate, nacrite, tacrine, tercian

---

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛʁ.tɛ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

certain (feminine singular certaine, masculine plural certains, feminine plural certaines)

1. certain (sure, positive)

   Il est certain qu'il viendra.

   It is certain that he will arrive.

2. certain (fixed, determined)
3. certain (specified, particular)

Derived terms

• dans une certaine mesure
• sûr et certain

 

Noun

certain m (plural certains)

1. certain; certainty

Determiner

certain

1. certain: a determined but unspecified amount of ; some

   Certaines personnes vont aller.

   Some people are going.

Related terms

• certainement
• certitude
• incertain

Further reading

• “certain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

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

---

Old French

Alternative forms

• (Picard dialect) chertain

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *certānus, from Latin certus. Compare Old Italian and Old Spanish certano.

Adjective

certain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular certaine)

1. certain; sure

Declension

Declension of certain

Number	Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Subject	certains	certaine	certain
	Oblique	certain	certaine	certain
Plural	Subject	certain	certaines	certain
	Oblique	certains	certaines	certain

Synonyms

• seur

Related terms

• cert

Descendants

• → Middle English: certeyn
  • English: certain
• French: certain