certain

certain

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of certain in English

English Online Dictionary. What means certain‎? What does certain mean?

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/, /ˈsɝʔn̩/
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈsɝtən/, /ˈsɝtn̩/, /ˈsɝʔn̩/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən
  • Hyphenation: cer‧tain

Adjective

certain (comparative more certain or certainer, superlative most certain or certainest)

  1. Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:certain
  2. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
  3. Sure to happen, inevitable; assured.
  4. Unfailing; infallible.
  5. Fixed; regular; determinate.
    at certain intervals
  6. Particular and definite, but unspecified or unnamed; used to introduce someone or something without going into further detail.
    Every wine has a certain distinctive character which sets it apart from all others.
    Each morning, she would see a certain man rush past her window on his way to work.
  7. (preceded by "a", of a person) Named but not previously mentioned.
    Synonym: one
    Looking inside the cover, they learned that the book had once belonged to a certain R. Jones.
  8. (preceded by "a", of a person) Used before the name of someone famous that people are expected to know.
    Synonym: one
    Since the last British government to make such a proposal was that of a certain Margaret Thatcher, it might not seem unreasonable.
  9. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.

Synonyms

  • (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

Translations

Determiner

certain

  1. Having been determined but not specified.

Translations

Pronoun

certain

  1. (with of) Unnamed or undescribed members (of).
    Synonym: some

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, anticer, cantier, ceratin, citrean, creatin, crinate, nacrite, tacrine, tercian

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɛʁ.tɛ̃/, (in laison) /sɛʁ.tɛ.n‿/

Adjective

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

  1. certain, for certain, indubitably
  2. certain (of indefinite, unknown or simply unmentioned identity, quality or quantity) (prepositive to the noun it modifies, and usually preceded by an indefinite article)
    un certain nombre dea certain number of
    une certaine femmea certain woman
  3. certain (sure, positive) (postpositive to the modified noun)
    une victoire certainea sure victory
  4. certain (fixed, determined)
  5. certain (specified, particular)

Derived terms

Noun

certain m (plural certains)

  1. certain; certainty

Determiner

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

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

Usage notes

  • The plurals certains and certaines are generally not used with articles, functioning much like articles themselves. Nevertheless, particularly in circumstantial and objective complements introduced by à (including such compounds as jusqu’à), they are sometimes supported by the indefinite article de — not to be confused with the preposition de:
    • à de certaines heures du matin
    • par rapport à de certains pays voisins
    • s'avancer jusqu'à de certaines limites
    • s'attendre à de certaines conditions

Related terms

  • certainement
  • certitude
  • incertain

References

Anagrams

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

Old French

Alternative forms

  • chertain (Picard)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *certānus, derived from Latin certus.

Adjective

certain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular certaine)

  1. certain; sure

Declension

Synonyms

  • seur

Related terms

  • cert

Descendants

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

Bookmark
share
WebDictionary.net is an Free English Dictionary containing information about the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, definitions, translations, etymology and more.

Related Words

Browse the English Dictionary

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

License

This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.