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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|