▪ I. cerˈtificate, ppl. a. Obs.
[ad. med.L. certificāt-us, pa. pple.: see next.]
Certified, assured.
| 1547 Homilies i. Faith i. (1859) 38 A certificate and sure looking for them. 1560 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 175 Chryst..Which is our brother by proue certyficate. |
▪ II. certificate, n.
(səˈtɪfɪkət)
Also 5–8 -at, 5 cert-, sertyfycate.
[a. F. certificat, or ad. med.L. certificātum thing certified, a subst. use of pa. pple. of certificāre to certify. In sense 1 it appears to answer to a L. n. in -ātus (4th decl.)]
† 1. The action or fact of certifying or giving assurance; certification. Obs.
| c 1480 St. Ursula (Roxb.) A j, Wastynge the church with force and cruelte So sayeth the cronycles for our certyfycate. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 259 For the better certificat therof he consyderd the stations of the moone. |
† 2. The action whereby a responsible person or persons attest a fact within their knowledge; certification, attestation. Obs.
| 1472 Marg. Paston Lett. 705 III. 63 Send for the shereffes debute to wete how thei be disposid for certificate of the knyghtes. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 10 §1 Upon certificat of the delyvere of the seid Writtes. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 95 a, Before they make certificat home to their cities. 1563 Homilies ii. Repentance i. (1859) 534 For a certificate, and assurance thereof. 1661 J. Stephens Procurations 30 Since the Certificate of their value into the Exchequer about the 26 of H. 8. |
3. a. A document wherein a fact is formally certified or attested.
| [1447 in Paston Lett. I. 64 Comme il apparest par le certificat a eulx par nous donné.] 1489–90 Plumpton Corr. 91 Send up the sayd wrytts with his sertyfycat. 1592 Greene Art Conny-catch. ii. 5 Who buyeth a horse without this certificat or proofe, shalbe within the nature of fellony. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 182 Six men brought a certificate that they had liued an hundred yeares apiece. 1642 Two Ord. Lords & Comm. 3 Dec. 3 A true and exact Certificate..of the quantity of Gunpowder. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 9 To get Passes and Certificates of Health..for, without these, there was no being admitted to pass thro' the Towns. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 174 No cyder and perry, exceeding six gallons, shall be removed, etc., without a certificate. 1790 J. Huntingford (title), The Forging and counterfeiting of Certificates of Servants' Characters. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxv, My father's contract of marriage, my own certificate of baptism. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade s.v., A certificate of origin is a Custom-House document, testifying to particular articles being the growth of a British colony. 1887 Whitaker's Almanack 368 A certificate of birth, marriage, or death costs one penny. |
b. esp. A document certifying the status or acquirements of the bearer, or his fulfilment of conditions which authorize him to act or practise in a specified way; hence, often equal to licence.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. xi. 95 Nane of them sal cum vitht in the mane cuntre of ingland vitht out ane certificat fra the sc[h]eref. 1593 Nashe Foure Lett. Confut. 19 A Certificate (such as rogues haue) from the head men of the Parish. 1615 tr. De Montfart's Surv. E. Indies 8 [He] must bring back a good certificat from the Captaine of the Carauan. 1816 Trial Berkeley Poachers 29 Allen makes no secret of his shooting; he takes out a certificate. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. (Hoppe), I am now admitted..on the roll of attornies, and have taken out my certificate. 1863 Illust. Lond. News 21 Nov. (Hoppe) The suspension of Captain Stone's certificate for six months. 1874 Sat. Rev. Apr. 499 (Hoppe) The vessel was licensed to carry only twenty passengers; but it seems that the restrictions of the certificate did not apply to trade between Mediterranean ports. |
c. In a more general sense: Anything which has the force or effect of the preceding; a certification.
| 1718 Free-thinker No. 76. 146 Admit no Opinions but such as come recommended with proper Certificates. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 68 The Englishman has pure pride in his wealth, and esteems it a final certificate. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 191 Bills of exchange, which are signs or certificates of debt. |
d. bankrupt's certificate: (see quot. 1858).
| 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4341/4 His Certificate will be confirmed as the Act directs. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade s.v., A bankrupt's certificate is the legal document issued by the Commissioner of the Bankruptcy Court, certifying that he has surrendered his estate, passed the examinations and forms required, and..is permitted to recommence his trading operations. |
e. A document committing a person to an institution as insane.
| [1883 T. S. Clouston Clin. Lect. Mental Dis. xix. 612 It may..be necessary, before certifying, to get a letter..protecting the doctor from risk of legal action. That is a risk no medical man in signing a certificate of lunacy should subject himself to.] 1927 Henderson & Gillespie Text-Bk. Psychiatry xvii. 492 The granting of a certificate of this nature carries with it very serious legal obligations; for the person certified may..ask for a trial by jury as to his alleged insanity. 1932 Kipling Limits & Renewals 168 He'd been tried too high—too high. I had to sign his certificate a few weeks later. |
f. Certificate of Secondary Education, an examination usually set and marked by individual schools for pupils in secondary schools in England and Wales (now replaced by the GCSE: see quot. 1981); the certificate obtained by passing this. Abbrev. C.S.E.: see C III. 3.
| 1961 (title) The Certificate of Secondary Education. A proposal for a new School Leaving Certificate other than the G.C.E. Fourth Rep. Secondary School Examinations Council. 1981 D. Rowntree Dict. Educ. 36 Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) (UK), a school-based examination taken by pupils around the age of 15 or 16 years, and aimed at the 40% of the ability-range, in any given subject, who lie below the top 20% at whom GCE (ordinary level) is aimed... During the 1980s, the CSE system is to be combined with that of the General Certificate of Education (GCE). |
4. Law. A writing made in one court, by which notice of its proceedings is given to another, usually by way of transcript. trial by certificate: a form of trial in which the testimony of facts as certified by another court, or by any proper authority, decides the point at issue.
| 1607–72 Cowell Interpr., A Certificate of the Cause of Attaint is a transcript made briefly, and in few words, by the Clerk of the Crown, etc. to the Court of the King's Bench, containing the tenor and effect of every Indictment. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 333 When the issue is whether a person was absent in the army, this is tried by the certificate of the proper officer, in writing, under his seal. 1818 Cruise Digest II. 300 The Judges certified that Mr. Bromfield took a vested estate in fee simple..The Master of the Rolls decreed in conformity to this certificate. |
5. attrib., as in certificate goods (see 3, quot. 1858).
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4674 An Act..for better preventing Frauds in Drawbacks upon Certificate Goods. 1710 Act 8 Anne in Lond. Gaz. No. 4701/2 Persons, who..cause..to be re-landed such Tobacco, and other Certificate-Goods. |
▪ III. certificate, v.
(səˈtɪfɪkeɪ(ɪ)t)
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To attest (a fact) by a certificate.
2. To furnish (a person) with a certificate. (to certificate out of: cf. argue v. 8, 9.)
| 1818 Todd, Certificate, a word of very recent date, signifying to give a certificate to a person, that he has passed a particular examination, or that he is justly entitled to some claim. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. I. 256 The homely stock of love that had never been examined or certificated out of her. 1870 Daily News 12 Nov., To register and certificate midwives. 1881 New Eng. Jrnl. Education XIV. 345 The teacher..was certificated for one of the lower grades. |
3. To license or authorize by certificate.
| 1884 Manch. Exam. 9 Sept. 5/3 Few of the excursionists know how many people the boat is certificated to carry. |
Hence cerˈtificated, cerˈtificating.
| 1768 Blackstone Comm. I. ix. 365 Apprentice or servant to such certificated person. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Certificated Bankrupt, one who is freed from his liabilities, and holds a certificate from the Bankruptcy Court. 1864 Bp. of Lincoln's Charge 6 A smaller supply of trained and certificated teachers. 1869 Pall Mall G. 29 Sept. 12 It does not parade this certificating character upon its title-page. |