cerris (ser is)

[NL., improp. form of L. cerrus, a kind of oak, the Turkey oak.) The European bitter oak, Quercus Cerris. cert (sért), adv. [ So hy ben delited in that art That wery ne ben hy neuere, cert . IMG:content-0077.png:[graphic] King A lisa under , 1. 5802. For cert, for certain; certainly. [Scotch.] certain (ser'tān), a. and n. [Early mod. E. also certayn, certen, Sp. cierto = Pg. certo = Pr. cert = OF. cert: see cert, certes), fixed, determined, of the same origin as cretus, pp. of cernere, separate, perceive, decide, = Gr. κρίνειν, separate, decide, akin to Icel. skilja, separate: see skill. From the same L. source come also ascertain, concern, decern, decree, dis cern; from the Gr., critic, diacritic, etc.] I. a. 1. Fixed; determinate; definite; specified; prescribed; settled beforehand: as in the phrase "at a time certain." Alle the bretheren and sisteren paien a certein som me of seluer to leghte of Trinite. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 116. The people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day. Ex. xvi. 4. In France a person is compelled to make a certain dis tri but i on of his property among his children. Brougham. 2. Indefinite in the sense of not being specifically named; known but not described: applied to one or more real individual objects or characters, as distinguished from a cla of objects or an order of characters; coming under particular observation, but undefined, as to kind, number, quantity, duration, etc.; some particular: as, a lady of a certain age. Therby in the rokkes be certayne Caues where the apostelles hyd theym in the tyme of the pa yon of our Lorde. Sir R. Guylforde , Pylgrymage, p. 34. We returnyd to the Mounte Syon to reffre h us and ther restyd us for a Certeyn tyme. Torkington , Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 34. Mark xii. 42. Then came a certain poor widow. The priests and monks concluded the interview with tain religious services. Bruce, Source of the Nile, II. 145. About everything he wrote there was a certain natural grace and decorum. Macaulay. certain 901 this sense with a plural noun. And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees. Shak ., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 3.] 3. Some (known but unspecified): followed by of . Certain also of your own poets have said. Acts xvii. 28. The count of Cifuentes followed, with certain of the chivalry of Seville. Irving , Granada, p. 85. 4. Established as true or sure; placed beyond doubt; positively ascertained and known; unquestionable; indisputable. "Tis most certain your husband's coming. Shak ., M. W. of W., iii. 3. Virtue, that directs our ways Through certain dangers to uncertain praise. Dryden. IMG:content-0078.png:[blocks in formation] Were it fire, And that fire certain to consume this body, If Cæsar sent, I would go. Beau , and Fl ., Val ent in i an, iv. 2. =Syn. 4. Undeniable, unquestionable, undoubted, indubitable, indisputable, incontrovertible, inevitable.-7. Sure, Positive, Certain, Confident, etc. (see confident ); unhesitating, undoubting. II. n. 1. A definite but unstated quantity. Of unces a certain [a certain number of ounces]. Chaucer, Prol. to Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 223. 2. Certainty. Whereof the certaine no man knoweth. Gower, Conf. Amant. (ed. Pauli), I. x. In this ma acre, about 70 you sand Romans and thir a ociats in the places above-mention'd, of a certaine, lost their lives. Milton , Hist. Eng., ii. 3. In the Rom. Cath. Ch., prayers said daily at ma for specified persons, as for the members of a guild unable to keep a priest of its own, but who paid so much to a church to have a daily remembrance. Also certainty. A certain consisted of saying, for certain persons, every day, at or after Ma , those same prayers which by the use of Sarum each parish priest was enjoined to put up to God, on Sun days, for all souls departed. Rock , Church of our Fathers, III. i. 127. For certain, certainly; of a certainty: now only colloquial: as, I do not know for certain . [A phrase still current.] For certain , This is of purpose laid by some that hate me. Shak., Hen. VIII., v. 2. In certaint, with certainty; with a urance. Chaucer . To know in sertayn ho fourged and wrought Roial lesigne[n], the noble castell. Rom . of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), Int., 1. 134. In good certaint, certainly; beyond all doubt. In good certain , madam, it makes you look most heavenly. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, ii. 1. certaint (sertān), adv. [ And elles certeyn were the i to blame. Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 375. "Tis certain so; - the Prince woos for himself. Shak., Much Ado, ii. 1. certainly (ser' tận-li), adv. [ He said, I will certainly return unto thee. Gen. xviii. 10. For certeynly he that hat he a litille there of upon him, it hele the him of the fallynge Evylle. Mandeville , Travels, p. 69. The discontented Whigs were, not perhaps in number, but certainly in ability, experience, and weight, by far the most important part of the Opposition. Macaulay , William Pitt. [ Nature a ureth us by never-failing experience, and reason by infallible demonstration, that our times upon the earth have neither certainty nor durability. Raleigh , Hist. World, I. 54. The certainty of punishment is the truest security against crimes. Ames. Certitude is a mental state: certainty is a quality of propositions. J. H. Newman, Gram. of A ent, p. 331. 2. A clearly established fact, truth, or state; that which is positively ascertained, demon strated, or intuitively known, or which cannot be questioned. Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations. Josh. xxiii. 13. I speak from certainties . Certhiida . Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 81. Certainties are uninteresting and sating. Landor . 3. That which is sure to be or occur; an a ured conscience, or in good troth . [Scotch.] event or result; an unerring forecast. An event had happened in the north which had changed the whole fortune of the war [the American revolution), and made the triumph of the Revolution a certainty . My certie ! few ever wrought for siccan a day's wage. Scott .