Adjacent Words

Certain definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CERTAIN, a.
1. Sure; true; undoubted; unquestionable; that cannot be denied; existing in fact and truth.
The dream is certain and the interpretation sure. Daniel 2.
2. Assured in mind; having no doubts; followed by of, before a noun.
However I with thee have fixed my lot,
Certain to undergo like doom of death,
Consort with thee.
To make her certain of the sad event.
3. Unfailing; always producing the intended effect; as, we may have a certain remedy for a disease.
4. Not doubtful or casual; really existing.
Virtue that directs our ways
Through certain dangers to uncertain praise.
5. Stated; fixed; determinate; regular.
Ye shall gather a certain rate every day. Exodus 16.
6. Particular.
There came a certain poor widow. Mark 12.
In the plural number, a particular part or number; some; an indefinite part, number, or quantity. Hanani came, he and certain men of Judah. I mourned certain days. Neh
1:2. 6.
In the latter sense, it is used as a noun; as, certain also of your own poets have said. Acts 17.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: definite but not specified or identified; "set aside a certain sum each week"; "to a certain degree"; "certain breeds do not make good pets"; "certain members have not paid their dues"; "a certain popular teacher"; "a certain Mrs. Jones"
2: having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured; "felt certain of success"; "was sure (or certain) she had seen it"; "was very sure in his beliefs"; "sure of her friends" [syn: certain, sure] [ant: incertain, uncertain, unsure]
3: established beyond doubt or question; definitely known; "what is certain is that every effect must have a cause"; "it is certain that they were on the bus"; "his fate is certain"; "the date for the invasion is certain" [ant: uncertain]
4: certain to occur; destined or inevitable; "he was certain to fail"; "his fate is certain"; "In this life nothing is certain but death and taxes"- Benjamin Franklin; "he faced certain death"; "sudden but sure regret"; "he is sure to win" [syn: certain, sure] [ant: uncertain]
5: established irrevocably; "his fate is sealed" [syn: sealed, certain] [ant: uncertain, unsealed]
6: reliable in operation or effect; "a quick and certain remedy"; "a sure way to distinguish the two"; "wood dust is a sure sign of termites" [syn: certain, sure]
7: exercising or taking care great enough to bring assurance; "be certain to disconnect the iron when you are through"; "be sure to lock the doors" [syn: certain, sure]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *certanus, from Latin certus, from past participle of cernere to sift, discern, decide; akin to Greek krinein to separate, decide, judge, Old Irish criathar sieve Date: 13th century 1. fixed, settled <a certain percentage of the profit> 2. of a specific but unspecified character, quantity, or degree <the house has a certain charm> 3. a. dependable, reliable <a certain remedy for the disease> b. known or proved to be true ; indisputable <it is certain that we exist> 4. a. inevitable <the certain advance of age> b. incapable of failing ; destined — used with a following infinitive <she is certain to do well> 5. assured in mind or action <I am certain they are right> Synonyms: see sure II. pronoun, plural in construction Date: 15th century certain ones

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & pron. --adj. 1 a (often foll. by of, or that + clause) confident, convinced (certain that I put it here). b (often foll. by that + clause) indisputable; known for sure (it is certain that he is guilty). 2 (often foll. by to + infin.) a that may be relied on to happen (it is certain to rain). b destined (certain to become a star). 3 definite, unfailing, reliable (a certain indication of the coming storm; his touch is certain). 4 (of a person, place, etc.) that might be specified, but is not (a certain lady; of a certain age). 5 some though not much (a certain reluctance). 6 (of a person, place, etc.) existing, though probably unknown to the reader or hearer (a certain John Smith). --pron. (as pl.) some but not all (certain of them were wounded). Phrases and idioms: for certain without doubt. make certain = make sure (see SURE). Etymology: ME f. OF ult. f. L certus settled

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Certain Cer"tain, a. [F. certain, fr. (assumed) LL. certanus, fr. L. certus determined, fixed, certain, orig. p. p. of cernere to perceive, decide, determine; akin to Gr. ? to decide, separate, and to E. concern, critic, crime, riddle a sieve, rinse, v.] 1. Assured in mind; having no doubts; free from suspicions concerning. To make her certain of the sad event. --Dryden. I myself am certain of you. --Wyclif. 2. Determined; resolved; -- used with an infinitive. However, I with thee have fixed my lot, Certain to undergo like doom. --Milton. 3. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact. The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. --Dan. ii. 45. 4. Actually existing; sure to happen; inevitable. Virtue that directs our ways Through certain dangers to uncertain praise. --Dryden. Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all. --Shak. 5. Unfailing; infallible. I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper. --Mead. 6. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate. The people go out and gather a certain rate every day. --Ex. xvi. 4. 7. Not specifically named; indeterminate; indefinite; one or some; -- sometimes used independenty as a noun, and meaning certain persons. It came to pass when he was in a certain city. --Luke. v. 12. About everything he wrote there was a certain natural grace und decorum. --Macaulay. For certain, assuredly. Of a certain, certainly. Syn: Bound; sure; true; undeniable; unquestionable; undoubted; plain; indubitable; indisputable; incontrovertible; unhesitating; undoubting; fixed; stated.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Certain Cer"tain, n. 1. Certainty. [Obs.] --Gower. 2. A certain number or quantity. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Certain Cer"tain, adv. Certainly. [Obs.] --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

I. BEING SURE Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you are certain about something, you firmly believe it is true and have no doubt about it. If you are not certain about something, you do not have definite knowledge about it. She's absolutely certain she's going to make it in the world... We are not certain whether the appendix had already burst or not... It wasn't a balloon–I'm certain of that. = sure ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ that/wh, ADJ of/about n 2. If you say that something is certain to happen, you mean that it will definitely happen. However, the scheme is certain to meet opposition from fishermen's leaders... Brazil need to beat Uruguay to be certain of a place in the finals... The Prime Minister is heading for certain defeat if he forces a vote... Victory looked certain. ADJ: oft ADJ to-inf, it v-link ADJ that/wh, ADJ of n/-ing 3. If you say that something is certain, you firmly believe that it is true, or have definite knowledge about it. One thing is certain, both have the utmost respect for each other... It is certain that Rodney arrived the previous day.. ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ that/wh 4. If you know something for certain, you have no doubt at all about it. Hill had to find out for certain. PHRASE: PHR with cl (not first in cl) 5. If you make certain that something is the way you want or expect it to be, you take action to ensure that it is. Firstly, they must make certain that their pension needs are adequately catered for... = make sure PHRASE: V inflects II. REFERRING AND INDICATING AMOUNT Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use certain to indicate that you are referring to one particular thing, person, or group, although you are not saying exactly which it is. There will be certain people who'll say 'I told you so!'... Leaflets have been air dropped telling people to leave certain areas. ADJ: det ADJ, ADJ n 2. When you refer to certain of a group of people or things, you are referring to some particular members of that group. (FORMAL) They'll have to give up completely on certain of their studies. = some QUANT: QUANT of def-pl-n 3. You can use a certain before the name of a person in order to indicate that you do not know the person or anything else about them. She managed to arrange for them to be hidden in the house of a certain Father Boduen. ADJ: a ADJ n-proper 4. You use a certain to indicate that something such as a quality or condition exists, and often to suggest that it is not great in amount or degree. That was the very reason why he felt a certain bitterness... ADJ: a ADJ sing-n/n-uncount

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Indubitable, unquestionable, indisputable, undeniable, incontestable, incontrovertible, unquestioned, undisputed, undoubted, absolute, positive, plain, sure, past dispute, beyond all question, clear as day. 2. Sure, assured, confident, undoubting, fully convinced. 3. Unfailing, infallible, never-failing. 4. Actual, real, existing. 5. Settled, determinate, fixed, stated, constant. 6. Known but unnamed, sort or, some, indeterminate.

Moby Thesaurus

a, a certain, absolute, accurate, actual, adducible, admissible, agape, agog, all agog, an, anticipant, anticipating, anticipative, anticipatory, any, any one, apodictic, ascertained, assured, atomic, attestative, attested, attestive, authentic, authenticated, awaiting, based on, believing, bound, categorically true, certified, changeless, circumstantial, clear, clear and distinct, clear as day, cocksure, composite, conclusive, concrete, confident, confirmable, confirmed, constant, convinced, convincing, corroborated, covered, credible, cumulative, damning, decided, decisive, defined, definite, demonstrable, demonstrated, dependable, destined, detailed, determinate, determinative, determined, devout, different, distinct, distinguished, divers, documentary, documented, dogmatic, doubtless, eager, effectual, either, ensured, esoteric, especial, established, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, exceptional, exclusive, expectant, expecting, express, extraordinary, eye-witness, factual, faithful, fated, fateful, fideistic, final, firm, firsthand, fixed, forearmed, forestalling, forewarned, founded on, gaping, grounded on, guaranteed, hearsay, historical, hopeful, implicit, impressed with, in anticipation, in expectation, in the cards, incontestable, incontrovertible, indefeasible, indicative, indisputable, individual, indivisible, indubitable, ineluctable, ineludible, inescapable, inevasible, inevitable, inexorable, infallible, inflexible, inner, insured, integral, intimate, invariable, irreducible, irrefutable, irresistible, irrevocable, lone, looking for, looking forward to, many, material, measured, minute, monadic, monistic, more, more than one, necessary, not in error, not singular, not surprised, noteworthy, numerous, nuncupative, objectively true, one, optimistic, overwhelming, particular, perfectly sure, permanent, personal, persuaded, pietistic, pious, pistic, plausible, plural, pluralistic, plurative, positive, precise, predestined, predetermined, prepared, presumptive, private, probative, provable, proved, quantified, quantitative, quantitive, quantized, ready, real, relentless, reliable, resistless, respective, sanguine, satisfied, secure, secured, set, settled, several, significant, simple, single, singular, sold on, sole, solid, solipsistic, solitary, some, special, specific, stable, standard, stated, steady, stipulated, substantiated, suggestive, sundry, sure, sure as death, sure as fate, sure-enough, surefire, symptomatic, telling, traditional, true, true as gospel, trustworthy, truthful, unalterable, unambiguous, unanalyzable, unavoidable, unchanging, unconfuted, uncontestable, uncontrollable, undeflectable, undeniable, undenied, under the impression, undisputed, undivided, undoubted, undoubtful, undoubting, unequivocal, unerring, unerroneous, unevadable, unfailing, unfallacious, unfalse, uniform, unique, unitary, univocal, unmistakable, unmistaken, unnamed, unpreventable, unquestionable, unquestioned, unrefuted, unspecified, unstoppable, unsurprised, unyielding, valid, validated, various, veracious, verifiable, verified, veritable, waiting, waiting for, warranted, watching for, weighty, well-grounded, whole, written