• Certain

    Pronunciation

    • RP IPA: /ˈsɜːtnÌ©/
    • GenAm IPA: /ˈsɝtnÌ©/
    • Canada IPA: /ˈsɝtÉ™n/, /ˈsɝtnÌ©/
    • Rhymes: -ɜː(r)tÉ™n
    • Hyphenation: cer + tain

    Origin

    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")

    Adjective

    certain

    1. Sure, positive, not doubting.I was certain of my decision.
    2. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
      • MiltonHowever, 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. 45The 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.
      • DrydenVirtue that directs our ways
        Through certain dangers to uncertain praise.
      • ShakespeareDeath, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all.
    5. Unfailing; infallible.
      • MeadI have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper.
    6. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.
      • Bible, Ex. xvi. 4The 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. 12It came to pass when he was in a certain city.
      • MacaulayAbout everything he wrote there was a certain natural grace and decorum.

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

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    Full definition of certain

    Determiner

    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. 12Certain of the Jews banded together.
      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 3, 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.”
    2. Certain people are good at running.

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