| 释义 |
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.
[1292Britton iv. viii. §2 Et si ele dedie par la affirmative ou la negative, sourd une doute dount la certeinté fet a enquere del ordinarie.] 1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 25 Right story can me not ken, þe certeynte what spellis. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxi. 65 As we may be infourmed and knowe the certeynte therof. 1565Grafton Chron. Edw. I, an. 8 (R.), The king..woulde therevnto geue no credite vntill he had sent thether, and receyued the certaintie. 1662Stillingfl. 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.)
1611Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 96 For Certainties Either are past remedies; or timely knowing, The remedy then borne. 1684Comtempl. State Man i. vii. (1699) 75 It being not then a suspicion, but an apparent certainty that Death will come. 1711Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxxxii. 135, I would not advise you to neglect a certainty for an uncertainty. 1775Strahan 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.
1303R. 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. 1425Sc. 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.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7837 Þare es ay blysfulle certaynté. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 91 The Starres..without whose ayme there is no certaintie. 1738J. Keill Anim. Œcon. Pref. 26 Geometry, which truly boasts the Beauty of Certainty. 1880E. 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.
a1340Hampole Psalter vi. 1 The seven psalmes..bygynnys all in sorrow..and bitternes of forthynkynge, and þai end in certaynte of pardoun. 1393Gower Conf. I. 43 For love is blinde and may nought se, Forthy may no certeinte Be sette upon his jugement. 1601Shakes. All's Well ii. i. 172 Vpon thy certainty and confidence, What dar'st thou venter? 1646Burd. 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. 1711Addison Spect. No. 101 ⁋7 This is all we can affirm with any Certainty of his Person and Character. 1837Hallam Hist. Lit. iii. iii. §93 The soul's progress from opinion to doubt, and from doubt to certainty. 1838De Morgan Ess. Probab. 3 (Cab. Cycl. Nat. Philos.), Our moral certainty of the fact.
b. with pl.
1605Bacon 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.
1431in Eng. Gilds (1870) 278 The vicarye..schal haue iiijs. and iiijd. for his certeyntee of messes. 1601F. 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. 1603Daniel 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.
c1400Rom. Rose 5435 They wene to have in certeynte Of hertly freendis so grete noumbre. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 47 The Kyngs Extraordynary chargys ar so casuel, that no Man may knowe them in certeynte. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 No persone may knowe for certeynty, whether he haue it or not. 1580North Plutarch (1676) 26 It is of certainty that her proper name was Nicostrata. 1611Bible 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. a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 24 This will be of certainty—that, etc. 1665Marvell Corr. li. Wks. 1872–5 II. 287 But pray tell us once more in certainty whether it must consequently make 600 li a Yeare. 1789Trifler No. 33. 420 Since music has become the rage, all our ladies must at a certainty, learn this sweet language. 1820Scott Abbot xix, Thou restless boy—Thou hast quicksilver in the veins of thee to a certainty. 1873Mrs. Oliphant Innocent ix, One or other will fall in love with her to a certainty. |