| 释义 |
▪ I. certain, a., n., and adv.|ˈsɜːtɪn, -t(ə)n|
Forms: α. 3–6 certein, -eyn, (eine, -eyne), 4–7 certen, 4–6 certayn(e, 4–7 certaine, 4– certain; (also 4–5 certan, 4–6 -tane, 5–6 certyn, 7 certaint, certien); β. 4–6 serteyn(e, 5–6 serten, 4–5 sertan, -tain, -tayn, 5–6 sertayne, 6 sarteyn, -tayne, 8 dial. sartan.
[a. OF. certain (= Pr. certan, Sp. and It. certano), repr. late L. or Romanic type certān-us, certān-o, f. cert-us determined, settled, sure, orig. pa. pple. of cern-ĕre to decide, determine, etc. The sense-development had taken place already with L. certus. The comparative and superlative, certainer, certainest, are of common occurrence up to the middle of 18th c., but are now seldom used.]
A. adj.
I.
1. a. Determined, fixed, settled; not variable or fluctuating; unfailing. To avoid ambiguity from confusion with sense 7, the adj. is sometimes put after its n., as a certain day, a day certain.
certain price: in Foreign Exchanges, the fixed sum in one currency, of which the value is expressed by a varying sum in another.
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 378 To a man to bere þeruore a certeyn rente by þe ȝere. 1461–83Lib. Niger Edw. IV in Ord. R. Househ. (1790) 18 A formal and convenient custume more certayne than was used byfore his tyme. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 6 Musicke is included in no certaine bounds. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. §5 That which produceth any certain effect. 1611Bible 1 Cor. iv. 11 We..haue no certaine dwelling place. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 384 The number of them hath not beene certaine in our dayes: at this time there are about sixty and eight..in former ages, they were but twelue. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. ii. 500 Wandering up and down without certain seat. 1741T. Robinson Gavelkind v. 79 A Fair or Market with Toll certain. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius II. 669 Apartments were taken ‘for 12 months certain, and six months' notice afterwards’. 1845Stephen Laws Eng. II. 111 Payment of money on a day certain. 1866Crump Banking vii. 146 Paris is said to give to London the ‘uncertain’ for the ‘certain’ price, when a [varying] number of francs and cents are exchanged for the {pstlg} sterling.
b. Definite, exact, precise. arch.
1393Gower Conf. III. 143 So that his word be..so certeine, That in him be no double speche. a1541Wyatt Let. in Wks. (1861) Introd. 22 The certain time how long I tarried after..I remember not. 1676Marvell Gen. Counc. Wks. 1875 IV. 152 The answer is now much shorter and certainer. 1736Butler Anal. i. i. Wks. 1874 I. 21 No means of determining..what is the certain bulk of the living being each man calls himself. 1788J. Powell Devises (1827) II. 75 It is of more importance that rules of this description should be certain.
2. a. Sure, unerring, not liable to fail; to be depended upon; wholly trustworthy or reliable.
a1300Cursor M. 12785 To bring fra iohn certan tiþand. c1314Guy Warw. (A.) 900 His stede That certeyne was and gode at nede. c1325Coer de L. 3028 Rychard bad his men seche For some wys clerk and sertayn leche..For to loke hys uryn. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 12 The righter and certainer mark to know him by. 1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low-C. Warres vii. 40, I have no more, nor no certainer Intelligence then others. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 203 ⁋2 To repose upon real facts, and certain experience. 1834M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xv. (1849) 141 A certain indication of a coming tempest.
b. Sure to come or follow; inevitable.
a1300Cursor M. 23732 Es nathing certainur þan dede, Ne vncertainner þan es þe tide. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. i. 24 Fearfull more of shame Then of the certeine perill he stood in. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 29 Those certaine tortures, he had doubtlesse received, had he stood upon his Justification. 1669Shadwell Royal Sheph. v, Such..Do on themselves the certain'st ruin bring. 1884Gustafson Found. Death Pref. 6 Truth's laborious but certain advance.
c. Sure in its operation or effects; ‘unfailing; that always produces the expected effect’ (J.).
1636E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Disc. Livy II. 593 There is no truer nor certainer way, than to make them doe some foule act against him. a1754R. Mead (J.), I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper. 1771Lett. Junius lxi. 317 The abuse of a valuable privilege is the certain means to lose it. 1809Roland Fencing 80 To give any certain directions to deceive the adversary would be impossible.
3. Established as a truth or fact to be absolutely received, depended, or relied upon; not to be doubted, disputed, or called in question; indubitable, sure.
c1400Destr. Troy 2273 Hit semes more sertain, sothely, to me..Hit may negh vs with noy. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark xiii. 29 It is muche certayner that that day shall cum, then it is certayne that summer foloweth after wynter. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iv. 15 Duncans Horses, (A thing most strange, and certaine)..Turn'd wilde in nature. 1611Bible Deut. xiii. 14 Then shalt thou enquire..and..if it be trueth, and the thing certaine, etc. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iv. xviii. §4 Whatsoever Truth we come to the clear discovery of from the..Contemplation of our own Ideas, will always be certainer to us, than those which are convey'd to us by Traditional Revelation. 1705S. Clarke Being & Attrib. of God (R.), One of the certainest and most evident truths in the world. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 199 It is certain that effects must have a cause. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. III. xlvi. 13 A fact as certain as it appears incredible. 1856Dove Logic Chr. Faith Introd. §2. 3 We can conceive nothing more absolutely certain than that we exist. 1877E. Conder Bas. Faith iv. 175 It appears to me not only conceivable, but probable, if not certain.
4. Of persons: Fully confident upon the ground of knowledge, or other evidence believed to be infallible; having no doubt; assured; sure (= ‘subjectively certain’). Const. of a thing, that it is so.
morally certain: so sure that one is morally justified in acting upon the conviction.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 77 Þei timbrede not so hye, Ne bouȝte none Borgages, beo ȝe certeyne. 138.Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 362 We ben certein þat crist may not axe oþir obedience. 1382― Rom. xv. 14, I my silf am certeyn of ȝou, for and ȝe ȝou silf ben ful of loue. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 57, I know you could not lacke, I am certaine on't. 1645Earl Glamorgan Let. 28 Nov. in Carte MSS., I am morally certain a total assent from the Nuncio shall be declared to the propositions for peace. 1679Penn Addr. Prot. ii. 146 A man can never be Certain of that, about which he has not the Liberty of Examining, Understanding, or Judging: Confident (I confess) he may be; but that's quite another thing than being Certain. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 6 We are certain, at least, of the existence of those beings. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1871) II. iv. vii. 148 Besides one is not sure, only morally-certain. 1864Tennyson Grandmother xxi, I am not always certain if they be alive or dead.
†5. Blending senses 1 and 4. Obs.
a. Confirmed by experience or practice; well-founded, well-grounded; fully established.
c1340Cursor M. 19507 (Fairf.), Walcande fra stede to stede in mare certain faiþ þen þai ware are. 1393Gower Conf. I. 180 Whan they ben of the feith certein, They gone to Barbarie ayein. Ibid. III. 303 He taught her till she was certeine Of harpe, citole and of riote. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 159/1 He was certeyn in the doctryne of the gospel.
†b. Self-determined, resolved; steadfast. (Cf. L. certus mori.) Obs.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 953 However I with thee have fixt my Lot, Certain to undergoe like doom, if Death Consort with thee. 1672Marvell Corr. ccvii. Wks. 1872–5 II. 408 He doth still continue certain to the former resolutions. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxi. §48 The certainer such Determination is, the greater is the Perfection.
6. By a change of construction, a person or agent is said to be certain to do a thing, when the fact that he will do it is certain. The use thus attaches itself logically to 1, and in such a sentence as ‘the town is certain to be taken’, certain might be referred to that sense.
1653Walton Angler ii. 49 I'l be as certain to make him a good dish of meat, as I was to catch him. 1868E. Edwards Raleigh I. xxiii. 537 The truth that honest and unselfish labour is just as certain to grow as it is to live. Mod. We are certain to meet him in the course of our rambles.
II.
7. a. Used to define things which the mind definitely individualizes or particularizes from the general mass, but which may be left without further indentification in description; thus often used to indicate that the speaker does not choose further to identify or specify them: in sing. = a particular, in pl. = some particular, some definite.
Different as this seems to be from sense 1, it is hardly separable from it in a large number of examples: thus, in the first which follows, the hour was quite ‘certain’ or ‘fixed’, but it is not communicated to the reader; to him it remains, so far as his knowledge is concerned, quite indefinite; it may have been, as far as he knows, at any hour; though, as a fact, it was at a particular hour. (The absolute uses are in B 4–6.)
a1300Cursor M. 8933 Ilk dai a certain hore! Þar lighted dun of heuen ture Angels. 138.Wyclif Wks. (1880) 220 How religious men should kepe certayne Articles. 1393Gower Conf. II. 16 A certain ile, which Paphos Men clepe. 1483Caxton G.L. 242/1 Saynt domynyk spak to the pryour..of certeyne mater. 1526Tindale John xi. 1 A certayne man was sicke, named Lazarus. 1536Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 61 In Aprill 1536, certen comyssions were sente into the weste countrye. 1578Lyte Dodoens ii. v. 152 The rootes be..covered with certayne scales. 1600F. Walker Sp. Mandeville 18 b, Theyr garments are made of a certaine fine woll, like Bombast. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 129 For certaine words he spake against your Grace. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 94 Not every one but Certain men distinguished from the rest. 1710Steele Tatler No. 173 ⁋3 There are certain faces for certain Painters, as well as certain Subjects for certain Poets. 1711Addison Spect. No. 37 ⁋1 A Letter..directed to a certain Lady whom I shall here call by the Name of Leonora. 1744Berkeley Siris §1 In certain parts of America, Tarwater is made. 1805Med. Jrnl. XIV. 437 The Reports which certain public associations have circulated. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. vi. §1 Everything that is natural is, within certain limits, right. 1875Jevons Money (1878) 5 If a certain quantity of beef be given for a certain quantity of corn. 1879M. Arnold Equality, Mixed Ess. 65 Certain races and nations, are on certain lines pre-eminent and representative. 1887(Police Notice) ‘Whereas certain persons unknown did, on the night of.., feloniously enter’, etc.
†b. some certain: some particular, some{ddd}which might be particularized. Obs.
1561Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer (1577) T viij b, In case some certayne Circe should tourne into wilde beastes al the French Kings subiectes. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. v. 6 A man is..neuer welcome to a place, till some certain shot be paid. 1599― Hen. V, i. i. 87 His true Titles to some certaine Dukedomes, And generally, to the Crowne and Seat of France. 1732Pope Ess. Man ii. 189 Lust, thro' some certain strainers well refin'd, Is gentle love.
†c. With pl. n., often (like some) referring to number; usually: Some definitely, some at least, a restricted or limited number of.
c1400Destr. Troy 10947 There þai fourmyt a fest..Serten dayes by-dene duly to hold. 1582G. Martin in Fulke Defence (1843) 229 You abuse the people for certain years with false translations. 1635N. R. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. 1 The death of Queen Mary having been certaine hours concealed. 1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 192 In Rome..he was certain months in the character of Ambassador.
d. Of positive yet restricted (or of positive even if restricted) quantity, amount, or degree; of some extent at least.
1538Starkey England 13 Ther ys a certyn equyte and justyce among all natyonys and pepul. 1711Addison Spect. No. 106 ⁋6 His Virtues..are as it were tinged by a certain Extravagance. 1763F. Brooke Lady Mandeville in Barbauld Brit. Novelists (1820) XXVII. 22 A prodigious passion for people of a certain rank, a phrase of which she is peculiarly fond. Ibid. 63, I knew her rage for title, tinsel, and ‘people of a certain rank’. 1810G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 476 Mr. Perceval..found a certain improvement in him. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 131 He kept up a certain degree of intercourse..with the Gonfaloniere Capponi. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. 123 The ice is disintegrated to a certain depth. 1875Jevons Money (1878) 117 The bank makes a certain profit out of the business.
e. Sometimes euphemistically: Which it is not polite or necessary further to define. a certain age: an age when one is no longer young, but which politeness forbids to be specified too minutely: usually, referring to some age between forty and sixty (mostly said of women). Also, (a woman) of a certain description, i.e. of the demi-monde; in a certain condition, pregnant; a certain disease, venereal disease.
1748Lady Featherstonhaugh in Lady Chatterton Mem. Ld. Gambier (1861) I. ii. 25 Some very handsome ladies of a certain sort, who always make part of his suite. 1754Connoisseur 28 Nov. 261, I could not help wishing that some middle term was invented between Miss and Mrs. to be adopted, at a certain age, by all females not inclined to matrimony. 1803J. Porter Thaddeus xxviii, At the epoch, called a certain age, she found herself an old maid. 1803J. G. Lemaistre Rough Sk. Mod. Paris xiv. 122 Women, too, of a certain description, do not ply for custom. Ibid. xxviii. 232 When I first came here, I supposed that these ladies were of a certain description. 1817Byron Beppo xxii, She was not old, nor young, not at the years Which certain people call a certain age, Which yet the most uncertain age appears. 1822― Juan vi. lxix, A lady of a ‘certain age’, which means Certainly aged. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge i, A very old house, perhaps as old as it claimed to be, and perhaps older, which will sometimes happen with houses of an uncertain, as with ladies of a certain, age. 1882Howells Out of Question, His feet are set rather wide apart in the fashion of gentlemen approaching a certain weight. 1927Rev. Eng. Stud. Oct. 433 As instances may serve lavatory, illegal operation, social evil, a certain disease. 1958B. Nichols Sweet & Twenties viii. 103 ‘Syphilis’ had always been described as ‘a certain disease’, just as an attempt at rape had been described as ‘a certain suggestion’, and the result of the rape on the lady was described as leaving her in ‘a certain condition’.
f. With a proper name, it implies that the person so indicated is presumed to be unknown except by name = ‘a certain person called’ or ‘calling himself’; hence often conveying a slight shade of disdain.
1785Cowper Let. 5 Feb., A certain lord Archibald Hamilton has hired the house of Mr. Small..for a hunting seat. 1833Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 348 A certain Benjamin Franklin French writes to me from New Orleans. 1870L'Estrange Miss Mitford I. v. 139 Mrs. Raggett brought with her a certain Miss Lucy.
B. quasi-n. or ellipt. What is certain.
I.
†1. Fixed, settled, or appointed condition, order, etc.; certainty. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 153 It is an vnresonable Religioun þat hath riȝte nouȝte of certeyne. 1393Gower Conf. III. 251 But every time hath his certain. 1631T. Powell Tom All Trades 146 Having no such pensions in certaine.
†2.
a. Certain state of matters, fact, or account; that which may be relied on; certainty. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 27001 Sant paule sais of vr last dai, Es nan mai certain þer-of sai. 1470–85Malory Arthur (1816) II. 362 That knight that hurt him knew the very certain that he had hurt Sir Launcelot. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxliii. 530 He sent out his spyes to knowe the sartayne which waye the emperours nephue shulde come. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 16, That's the certaine of it. 1607C. Lever in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 169 Honour, beautie, nor desire of golde, Cannot the certaine of their death withhold.
b. for certain, in certain, etc.: see 7–10 below.
†3. The state of mental certainty, certitude. Obs.
138.Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 339 But as God wole of þre þingis, þat we knowun hem not in certein. 1393Gower Conf. III. 348 I hove In none certein betwene the two. 1470–85Malory Arthur (1817) II. 290 Than they were at certayne that they were of naturel colours withoute payntynge. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxxiii. 326 As than they were nat in certayne yf they shulde passe that way. Ibid. (1812) I. 464 It is of certayne that we shall conquere you.
II.
†4.
a. A definite quantity or amount (of). Obs.
c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 471 Biseching him to lene him a certeyn Of gold. c1449Pecock Repr. iii. xiii. 358 He ȝaf a certein of possessioun. 1522MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Paied for a certen of bryk by the lumpe. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Germanie iii. (1622) 264 To pay a certaine of corne, or cattell, or apparell.
†b. ellipt. A fixed or definite sum of money.
1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 39 For þes he þam bisouht, to gyf þam a certeyn. 1401Pol. Poems (1859) II. 81 Ne non suffragies selle for a certeyn bi ȝere. 1505E.E. Wills (1882) 135 A perpetual serteyn.. to be distribute to xij powre persons on seynt Brices day. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 180/2 The preests paieng a certeine to the King.
†5.
a. A definite (restricted) number (of things).
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 547 She to soper come..With a certeyn of her owne men. 1462J. Daubeney in Paston Lett. 452 II. 102 Ye wolle late me have a serteyn of your bulloks for the vetelyng of the Barge. 1547in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. ii. App. D 24 A certen of the wysest..men. 1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1 Peter iii. 20 Put of for a certayn of yeares. 1621Bk. Discip. Ch. Scot. 9 A certaine of the nobilitie were convened.
†b. Occasionaly without of: cf. A. 7. Obs.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xiv. 13 A certayne noble knightis..she kept styl about her. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John 119 b, After I haue taried a certayne dayes among them.
†c. ellipt. A fixed number of prayers or masses.
[1431in Eng. Gilds (1870) 278 His certeyntee [1448 certeyn] of messes. ]1466Fun. J. Paston in Lett. II. 271 To the said parson for a certeyn unto Mighelmesse next after the said yere day, viiis. viiid. 1496Will of J. Burgh (Somerset Ho.), I bequeith xxxs. iiijd. for to have a certeyn rehersed in the church. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers III. viii. 126.
†d. ellipt. A restricted number of persons; some. Obs.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 611/1 God chooseth a certayne whome he lyketh. 1541Paynell Catiline xxvii. 47 They chose out a certayne, whiche shulde besyege Pompeys house.
6. Closely related to this is the current (though somewhat archaic) use without a, both followed by of and absolutely, which may also be treated as a pronominal or absolute use of sense 7 in A.
a. of persons.
c1400Destr. Troy 1709 Ector..and certen hym with. 1450W. Somner in Four C. Eng. Lett. 3 He sente..certyn letters to certyn of his trustid men. 1526Tindale Acts xii. 1 To vexe certayne [Wyclif sum men] of the congregacion. 1538Starkey England 54 Polytyke rule..may be other vnder a prynce, commyn conseyl of certayn, or vnder the hole multytude. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 122, I haue mou'd already Some certaine of the Noblest minded Romans. 1611Bible Pref. 1 Certaine, which would be counted pillars of the State.
b. of things.
1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §17. 62 Certain of the Psalms. 1855Dickens Dorrit iii, Mrs. Clennam dipped certain of the rusks and ate them; while the old woman buttered certain other of the rusks.
III. Phrases.
7. for certain; formerly (and still dial.) also for a certain: as a certainty, assuredly. [= F. pour certain, Littré.]
c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2901 Sir, for sertayn, That wald I here and that ful fayn. 1534Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B iij, For certaine al the fruites cometh not togither. 1607Topsell Serpents 625 It was reported for a certain, that a Viper entring into a Mans mouth, etc. 1611Bible Jer. xxvi. 15 But know ye for certaine, That, etc. 1646Cromwell Let. 10 Aug., I hear for certain that Ormond has concluded a peace with the Rebels. 1707E. Ward Hud. Rediv. (1715) ii. v, He meant the Butcher, for a certain. 1718Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell i. §16. 39 He was for certain a most useful Member. 18..Southey Roprecht iv, Roprecht for certain is not dead!
†8. in certain: in truth, certainly, truly. Obs. [Cf. OF. à certain, Dewes.]
c1340Cursor M. 11577 (Laud), This was þe somme in certayn Of the childryn þat were slayne. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour G iij, For in certayne he hath leyd thre egges. c1489― Sonnes of Aymon i. 52 In certeyn the duke of Aygremounte is ryght myghty. 1493Petronilla 57 (Pynson), And she fulfylled his byddynge in certeyn Withoute grutchinge of virgynall mekenesse.
9. of a certain (arch.), formerly of certain: as a matter of certainty, certainly, assuredly. [= OF. de certain, Dewes.] To this may belong Caxton's a certain; but this may be from Fr. (cf.8).
c1485Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 229, I know of a certayn. 1488Caxton Chast. Goddes Chyld. 46 Yf we knew a certen that suche men deyed wythout repentaunce. 1575Brieff Disc. Troub. Franckford 97 It began to be muttred off certeyne that the Magistrate, etc. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. iv. 112 They..who of a certain report, that, etc. 1828Scott F.M. Perth iv, Of a certain, those whingers are pretty toys.
C. adv.
1. Certainly, of a truth, assuredly. (Mostly parenthetic = certainly 4.)
1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 82 My boke sais certayn, þat he gaf neuer þat rede. c1386Chaucer Prol. 375 And elles certeyn hadde thei ben to blame. a1400Arthur 501 Þus worschup god dude certeyn To Englond, þat þo was Bretayn. 1509Hawes Examp. Virt. x. 191 It brenneth hote lyke fyre certeyn. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vi. 29 Lorenzo certaine, and my loue indeed. 1704Rowe Ulyss. iv. i. 1768 She is lost—most certain—gone irrevocable. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Certain, for certainly. ‘He's dead certain’. ‘I'll go to-morrow sure and certain’. Very common. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 450 He's done it sure and certain.
2. With certainty, surely.
1382Wyclif Acts xxiii. 20 As thei ben to sekinge sum thing certeynere [v.r. and 1388 more certeynly of him]. a1734North Lives II. 346 There is no place..in which an ingenious person comes sooner and certainer to preferment, than in the Turkish Court.
†3. Emphasizing sooth, true, sure. Obs. or dial.
a1500in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 205 Certain sothe. a1593H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 401 Being most undoubted and certain true. 1804Southey in Robberds Mem. W. Taylor I. 482 You will, I am certain-sure, be well pleased. 1875Parish Sussex Dial., Certain Sure, the superlative of certainly.
▪ II. † certain, v. Obs. rare.
[f. prec.: cf. OF. certainer, and ascertain.]
trans. To make certain; to certify. Hence certaining vbl. n.
a1300Cursor M. 26973 Bot if þat it be suilk a thing þat þou wat of na certanyng. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cclxx. 401 He certeyned them how he wolde ryde forthe. |