certamen

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin certō

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Italic *-mn̥

Latin -men

Latin certāmenbor.

English certamen

Borrowed from Latin certāmen (“contest”). Ultimately from Latin certus (“certain, fixed, settled, firm”).

Pronunciation

• (faithful to Latin original) IPA^(key): [kɛɹˈtɑːmɛn]
• (Anglicised) IPA^(key): [kɚˈtɑmən]

Noun

certamen (uncountable)

1. A team competition in which contestants answer questions about classical history, culture, and mythology, and the Latin language.
   • 1983 August 12, Susan Chira, Special To the New York Times, “A Roman Holiday Upstate”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     It was the semifinal round of Certamen, Latin for contest, the Junior Classical League's answer to “It's Academic.” Two teams of four-each sat across from a judge, and pressed buzzers that lighted up a bulb showing which team responded first.

   • 1988 February 21, Tessa Melvin, “A Latin revival takes the stage at John Jay High School”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     There's the “certamen” or contest, similar, Mrs. Nicholls said, to a television quiz show. Students compete against other schools in mythology, history and trivia. Anyone can enter - all they have to know is some Latin.

Anagrams

• Arcement

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin certāmen (“contest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [sərˈta.mən]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [seɾˈta.men]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [serˈta.men]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

certamen m (plural certàmens)

1. contest, competition

Further reading

• “certamen”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “certamen”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “certamen” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “certamen”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin certō

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Italic *-mn̥

Latin -men

Latin certāmen

From certō (“struggle, contend”) + -men (noun-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɛrˈtaː.mɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃerˈtaː.men]

Noun

certāmen n (genitive certāminis); third declension

1. A contest, race, struggle, strife.

   Synonym: simultās

2. A battle, engagement, combat.

   Synonyms: certatus, duellum, rixa, bellum

   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, I Timotheum 6:12, page 1836:

     certa bonum certamen

     fight the good fight

3. An object contended for, prize.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	certāmen	certāmina
genitive	certāminis	certāminum
dative	certāminī	certāminibus
accusative	certāmen	certāmina
ablative	certāmine	certāminibus
vocative	certāmen	certāmina

Derived terms

• certāmen equōrum (“horse race”)

Related terms

• certābundus
• certātim
• certātiō
• certātīvē
• certātor
• certātus
• certō
• certor

Descendants

• → Catalan: certamen
• → English: certamen
• → Italian: certame
• → Portuguese: certame
• → Spanish: certamen

References

• “certamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “certamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "certamen", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “certamen”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • gymnastic contests: certamina gymnica
    
  • party-strife: certamen partium
    
  • to engage in the fight: in certamen descendere
    
  • single combat: certamen singulare
    
  • to challenge some one to single combat: povocare aliquem ad certamen singulare
    

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin certāmen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɾˈtamen/ [θeɾˈt̪a.mẽn] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /seɾˈtamen/ [seɾˈt̪a.mẽn] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -amen
• Syllabification: cer‧ta‧men

Noun

certamen m (plural certámenes)

1. contest, competition, pageant

   Synonym: concurso

   certamen literario ― literary contest

   • 2021 July 15, Raquel Piñeiro, “Amparo Muñoz, el infierno televisado”, in El País‎^[4]:

     Jane Fonda y Angela Davis recibieron la llamada del novio de Miss Universo, que les contó que la joven reina de belleza estaba siendo explotada por la organización del certamen y vivía en espantosas condiciones.

     Jane Fonda and Angela Davis received a phone call from the boyfriend of Miss Universe, who told them that the young beauty queen was being exploited by the organization of the pageant and lived in horrible conditions.

2. challenge

   Synonyms: desafío, reto

Related terms

• cierto

Further reading

• “certamen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025