certainty
(ˈsɜːtəntɪ)
Forms: 4 certaynte, 4–5 -teynte, -tante, 5 certeyntee, -tente, -tainte, 6 certaynete, sertente, -tinty, scertayntie, certentie, -teynty, -tie, certeintie, -tayntie, -taynetye, -tainety, 6–7 certaintie, (certainetie, -ty), 7 certenty, teinty, 6– certainty.
[a. Anglo-Fr. certeinté, OF. certaineté (—Pr. certanetat, OSp. certanedad), on L. or Rom. type certānitāt-e(m: see certain and -ty.]
1. That which is certain; the certain state of matters, the fact, the truth; a certain account. ? Obs.
| [1292 Britton iv. viii. §2 Et si ele dedie par la affirmative ou la negative, sourd une doute dount la certeinté fet a enquere del ordinarie.] 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 25 Right story can me not ken, þe certeynte what spellis. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxi. 65 As we may be infourmed and knowe the certeynte therof. 1565 Grafton Chron. Edw. I, an. 8 (R.), The king..woulde therevnto geue no credite vntill he had sent thether, and receyued the certaintie. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. ii. §10 We have then no certainty at all..of any certain Records..unless they be contained in those sacred inscriptions from whence Manetho took his history. |
2. A fact or thing certain or sure (with pl.)
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 96 For Certainties Either are past remedies; or timely knowing, The remedy then borne. 1684 Comtempl. State Man i. vii. (1699) 75 It being not then a suspicion, but an apparent certainty that Death will come. 1711 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxxxii. 135, I would not advise you to neglect a certainty for an uncertainty. 1775 Strahan in Boswell Johnson xlviii, Small certainties are the bane of men of talents. Mod. To surrender a certainty for a mere prospect. |
† 3. Assurance, surety, pledge. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8218 He hadde seyde hym hys certeynte. 1330 ― Chron. (1810) 69 My broþer delyuer þou me, my neuow þou me grante, & hold þi certeynte, and salle hold couenante. 1425 Sc. Acts Jas. I (1596) §62 Bot gif that man haue ane letter or certainetie of the Lord of that land..for quhat cause he cummis in this Realme. |
4. The quality or fact of being (objectively) certain.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7837 Þare es ay blysfulle certaynté. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 91 The Starres..without whose ayme there is no certaintie. 1738 J. Keill Anim. Œcon. Pref. 26 Geometry, which truly boasts the Beauty of Certainty. 1880 E. White Cert. Relig. 3 The Evangelist distinguishes between what we now term certitude—or the belief of the mind—and certainty, or the solid reality of the facts or truths believed in. |
5. The quality or state of being subjectively certain; assurance, confidence; absence of doubt or hesitation; = certitude. moral certainty: see certain 4.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter vi. 1 The seven psalmes..bygynnys all in sorrow..and bitternes of forthynkynge, and þai end in certaynte of pardoun. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 43 For love is blinde and may nought se, Forthy may no certeinte Be sette upon his jugement. 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. i. 172 Vpon thy certainty and confidence, What dar'st thou venter? 1646 Burd. Issach. in Phenix (1708) II. 276 That this is truth, I am as much assur'd of, as moral Certainty can assure any Man of moral Truth. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 101 ¶7 This is all we can affirm with any Certainty of his Person and Character. 1837 Hallam Hist. Lit. iii. iii. §93 The soul's progress from opinion to doubt, and from doubt to certainty. 1838 De Morgan Ess. Probab. 3 (Cab. Cycl. Nat. Philos.), Our moral certainty of the fact. |
b. with pl.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. v. §8 If a man will begin with certainties, hee shall end in doubts. |
† 6. A certain or definite number or quantity. Obs.
| 1431 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 278 The vicarye..schal haue iiijs. and iiijd. for his certeyntee of messes. 1601 F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II, §11 (1876) 11 Setting downe the certenti of the price. Ibid. §51. 35 By reson of the certenty which is theron assesed. 1603 Daniel Def. Rhime Poems (1717) 14 Nature, that desires a Certainty, and comports not with what is infinite. |
7. for, (in, at obs.), of, to (a) certainty: as a matter of certainty, beyond doubt, assuredly.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 5435 They wene to have in certeynte Of hertly freendis so grete noumbre. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 47 The Kyngs Extraordynary chargys ar so casuel, that no Man may knowe them in certeynte. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 No persone may knowe for certeynty, whether he haue it or not. 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 26 It is of certainty that her proper name was Nicostrata. 1611 Bible Joshua xxiii. 13 Know for a certainety, that the Lord your God, etc. ― Dan. ii. 8, I know of certeinty that ye would gaine the time. a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 24 This will be of certainty—that, etc. 1665 Marvell Corr. li. Wks. 1872–5 II. 287 But pray tell us once more in certainty whether it must consequently make 600 li a Yeare. 1789 Trifler No. 33. 420 Since music has become the rage, all our ladies must at a certainty, learn this sweet language. 1820 Scott Abbot xix, Thou restless boy—Thou hast quicksilver in the veins of thee to a certainty. 1873 Mrs. Oliphant Innocent ix, One or other will fall in love with her to a certainty. |