The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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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. -
Determined; resolved; -- used with an infinitive.
However, I with thee have fixed my lot, Certain to undergo like doom.
--Milton. -
Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
--Dan. ii. 45. -
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. -
Unfailing; infallible.
I have often wished that I knew as certain a remedy for any other distemper.
--Mead. -
Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.
The people go out and gather a certain rate every day.
--Ex. xvi. 4. -
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.
Wiktionary
adv. definitely, positively, without doubt
WordNet
adv. definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely'); "the results are surely encouraging"; "she certainly is a hard worker"; "it's going to be a good day for sure"; "they are coming, for certain"; "they thought he had been killed sure enough"; "he'll win sure as shooting"; "they sure smell good"; "sure he'll come" [syn: surely, certainly, sure, for sure, sure enough, sure as shooting]
Usage examples of "for certain".
So thick was the fog that he could not say for certain exactly where he was at that moment.
Marko wondered why there were no warnings in life when a man was heading for certain destruction.
I have a habit of waiting for certain ships when I am obliged to cross that duck-pond.
Quentin did not know for certain they were in any specific sort of trouble at the moment, but he could not have been closer to the truth.
It was difficult to tell anything for certain from these prints, for there were others all along the road.