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Entry 10 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Certain

/sẽrt'-ən/ · Cer·tain · IPA /ˈsɝ.tən/
01 a. Assured in mind; having no doubts; free from suspicions concerning.
  1. 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. 2.
    Determined; resolved; -- used with an infinitive.
    “However, I with thee have fixed my lot, Certain to undergo like doom.” — Milton.
  3. 3.
    Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
    “The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” — Dan. ii. 45.
  4. 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. 5.
    Unfailing; infallible.
    “I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper.” — Mead.
  6. 6.
    Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.
    “The people go out and gather a certain rate every day.” — Ex. xvi. 4.
  7. 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.
Phrases & compounds
For certain — assuredly.
Of a certain — certainly.
Syn. Bound; sure; true; undeniable; unquestionable; undoubted; plain; indubitable; indisputable; incontrovertible; unhesitating; undoubting; fixed; stated.
02 n. Certainty.
  1. 1.
    Certainty.[Obs.]
  2. 2.
    A certain number or quantity.[Obs.]
03 adv. Certainly.
  1. 1.
    Certainly.[Obs.]