English
certain
Certain comes from Old French certain, from Vulgar Latin *certānus, from Latin certus ‘fixed, certain’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kritosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcertus‘fixed, resolved, certain’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*certānusreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400certain‘certain’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500certeyn‘specified, fixed’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599certain
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kritosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcertus‘fixed, resolved, certain’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*certānusreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400certain‘certain’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500certeyn‘specified, fixed’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599certain
Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth: “[…]death (as the Pſalmiſt ſaith) is certaine to all,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’
secret, crime, crisis, criminal, discrimination, critic, discretion, critique, discrete, riddle, discreet, hypocrite, discriminate, criterion, endocrine, discern, excrement, excretion, rime, incriminate, excrete, incrimination, recrimination, ridder, criterium, 48 more
through Latin certus ‘fixed, resolved, certain’
Today it means
adj Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / certain