certain

English

Etymology

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”)

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

Adjective

Wikipedia

certain (comparative more certain, superlative most certain)

1. Sure, positive, not doubting.

   I was certain of my decision.

2. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
   • Milton

     However, I with thee have fixed my lot, / Certain to undergo like doom.

3. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
   • Bible, Dan. ii. 45

     The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

4. 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.

5. Unfailing; infallible.
   • Mead

     I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper.

6. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.
   • Bible, Ex. xvi. 4

     The people go out and gather a certain rate every day.

7. 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.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:certain

Antonyms

• (not doubting): uncertain
• (sure to happen): impossible, incidental

Derived terms

• certainly adv

Related terms

• certainty noun

Translations

sure, positive, not doubting

• Arabic: أكيد ('akiid), (said of a person) متأكد (muta'akkid)
• Bulgarian: сигурен (bg) (siguren), уверен (bg) (uveren)
• Catalan: cert (ca)
• Chamicuro: akachelo'ta
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: jistý (cs) m
• Danish: sikker (da) c, sikkert (da) n, sikre pl
• Dutch: zeker (nl)
• Finnish: varma (fi)
• French: certain (fr)
• Friulian: ciert, sigûr, positîv
• German: sicher (de)
• Greek: βέβαιος (el) m (vévaios) (vévaios)
• Hungarian: biztos (hu)
• Icelandic: viss (is) m, öruggur (is) m
• Irish: cinnte, dearfa, deimhin
• Italian: certo (it)

• Japanese: 確か (ja) (tashika), 一定 (ja) (ittei), 定か (sadaka), (+ -の -no) 特定 (ja) (tokutei)
• Khmer: ជាក់លាក់ (cheakleak)
• Latin: certus
• Norwegian: sikker (no), viss (no)
• Novial: serteni
• Oriya: ନିର୍ଦ୍ଦିଷ୍ଟ (or)
• Polish: pewny (pl) m
• Portuguese: certo (pt)
• Romanian: cert (ro), anume, sigur (ro)
• Russian: уверенный (ru) (uvérennyj), (of a fact) определённый (ru) (opredeljónnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: cinnteach, deimhinne
• Serbo-Croatian: sȉgūran
• Slovene: gotov
• Spanish: cierto (es)
• Swedish: säker (sv) c, säkert (sv) n, säkra (sv) pl
• Thai: แน่นอน (th)
• Turkish: kesin (tr)

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

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

Determiner

certain

1. 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.

   • 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.

Translations

having been determined but unspecified

• Arabic: محدّد (muhaddad)
• 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
• Finnish: tietty (fi), muuan (fi)
• French: certain (fr)
• German: bestimmt (de), gewiss (de)
• Hungarian: bizonyos (hu)

• Icelandic: ákveðinn (is) m, viss (is) m
• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru), とある (toaru)
• Latin: quīdam (la)
• Norwegian: viss (no) m, f, visst (no) n, visse (no) pl, enkelte (no)
• Portuguese: certo (pt) m
• Romanian: anumit (ro)
• Russian: некоторый (ru) (nékotoryj), определённый (ru) (opredeljónnyj), некий (ru) (nékij)
• Serbo-Croatian: òdrēđen, nȅkī
• Spanish: cierto (es) m, cierta f
• Swedish: viss (sv) c, visst (sv) n, vissa (sv) pl
• Turkish: belli (tr)

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: often · themselves · half · #269: certain · sent · keep · myself

External links

• certain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• certain in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• tacrine
• tercian

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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 m (feminine 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)

Noun

certain m (plural certains)

1. certain; certainty

Related terms

• certainement
• certitude
• incertain

Anagrams

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

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Old French

Alternative forms

• (Picard dialect) chertain

Adjective

certain

1. certain; sure

Synonyms

• seür

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

Descendants

• English: certain
• French: certain