certain

See also: Certain and cèrtain

English

Alternative forms

• certaine (obsolete)

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

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 (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English, ġewiss (“certain, sure”) and alternative (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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)

• Audio

  (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.

2. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
   • (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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.

   • (Can we date this quote by Dryden and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Virtue that directs our ways / Through certain dangers to uncertain praise.

   • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all.

5. Unfailing; infallible.
   • (Can we date this quote by Mead and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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; see also "one".
   • Bible, Luke v. 12

     It came to pass when he was in a certain city.

   • (Can we date this quote by Macaulay and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     About everything he wrote 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

Derived terms

• certainly (adv)

Related terms

• certainty (n)

Translations

sure, positive, not doubting

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

  Mandarin: 肯定 (zh) (kěndìng), 確切／确切 (zh) (quèqiè), 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ladin: cert, cërt
• Latin: certus, fidus
• Macedonian: сигурен (siguren), уверен (uveren)
• Maori: taketake
• Norwegian: sikker (no), viss (no)
• Novial:
• Oriya: ନିର୍ଦ୍ଦିଷ୍ଟ (or) (nirddiṣṭô)
• 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
• 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 (baʕḍ)
• 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)
• French: certain (fr), quelconque (fr)
• German: gewiss (de), irgendein (de)
• Hungarian: bizonyos (hu), egyes (hu), némely (hu), egyfajta, egynémely
• Ido: certena (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: certo (it) m, tale (it)
• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru)
• Korean: 어떤 (ko) (eotteon)
• 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)

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

Translations to be checked

• (deprecated template usage) Ido: certa (1), certena (2)
• (deprecated template usage) Indonesian: tertentu, yakin, merasa pasti
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• (deprecated template usage) Telugu: ^{(please verify)} నిశ్చయం (te) (niścayaṁ)

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.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, in 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 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)
• French: certain (fr)
• Georgian: გარკვეული (garḳveuli)
• German: bestimmt (de), gewiss (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: bizonyos (hu), egyes (hu), némely (hu)
• Icelandic: ákveðinn (is) m, viss (is) m
• 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)

Pronoun

certain

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

   There were serious objections to certain of the proposals.

   • Bible, Acts xxiii. 12

     Certain of the Jews banded together.

Synonyms

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

Noun

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

     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”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “certain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “certain”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Cretian, ant rice, cantier, ceratin, creatin, crinate, nacrite, 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 (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

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 [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

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

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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