certain

• certaine (obsolete)
• certayne (archaic)
• certeine (archaic)

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”).

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

• Audio (CA)

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• Audio (US)

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

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

   I was certain of my decision.

   • 1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter VIII, in Peter Simple. […], volume III, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 113:

     […] I think, nay, I may say that I'm sartain, we'll have a hurricane afore morning. It's not the first time I've cruised in these latitudes.

2. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.

   Now that more experiments have been run, the theory is certain and the argument is settled.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 2:45, column 1:

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

3. Sure to happen, inevitable; assured.

   It is certain that Spain will reach the finals. / Spain is now certain to reach the finals. / Spain is now certain of a place in the finals.

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

   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), 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, [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, Act II, page 29:

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

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

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

5. Fixed; regular; determinate.

   at certain intervals

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 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.

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.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 5:12, column 1:

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

   • 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “[Contributions to the Encyclopædia Britannica.] Oliver Goldsmith.”, 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, page 365:

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

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.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 952–953:

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

• (sure to happen): unavoidable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable

• (antonym(s) of “not doubting”): uncertain
• (antonym(s) of “sure to happen”): impossible, incidental
• (antonym(s) of “known but not named”): particular specific

certain

1. Having been determined but not specified.

   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, 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.”

certain

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

   Synonym: some

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

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

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

• “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.

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

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

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

• Audio

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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 de ― a certain number of

   une certaine femme ― a certain woman

3. certain (sure, positive) (postpositive to the modified noun)

   une victoire certaine ― a sure victory

   Il est certain qu’il viendra.

   It is certain that he will arrive.

4. certain (fixed, determined)
5. certain (specified, particular)

certain m (plural certains)

1. certain; certainty

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

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

   Certaines personnes vont aller.

   Some people are going.

• 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[1] (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

• certainement
• certitude
• incertain

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

• chertain (Picardy)

From Vulgar Latin *certānus, derived from Latin certus.

certain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular certaine)

1. certain; sure

• seur

• cert

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