different between certain vs stable

English

Alternative forms

• certaine (obsolete)
• certeine (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English certeyn, certein, certain, borrowed from Old French certain, from a Vulgar Latin unattested form *cert?nus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”), of the same origin as cretus, past participle of cernere (“to separate, perceive, decide”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ?ewiss (“certain, sure”)) and alternative Middle English spelling sertane (“some, certain”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??tn?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?tn?/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?s?t?n/, /?s?tn?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t?n
• Hyphenation: cer?tain

Adjective

certain (comparative more certain, superlative most certain)

1. Sure, positive, not doubting.

   I was certain of my decision.

   Spain is now certain of a place in the finals.

2. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
3. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
4. Actually existing; sure to happen; inevitable.

   Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.
5. Unfailing; infallible.
   • 1702, Richard Mead, Mechanical Account of Poisons
6. I have often wished , that I knew so certain a remedy in any other disease
7. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.

   • The people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day.

8. Known but not specifically named; indeterminate; indefinite; one or some; sometimes used independently as a noun, and meaning certain persons; see also "one".

   • It came to pass when he was in a certain city.

Synonyms

• (not doubting): See also Thesaurus:certain
• (sure to happen): unavoidable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable

Antonyms

• (not doubting): uncertain
• (sure to happen): impossible, incidental
• (known but not named): particular specific

Derived terms

• certainly (adv)

Related terms

• certainty (n)

Translations

Determiner

certain

1. Having been determined but not specified. The quality of some particular subject or object which is known by the speaker to have been specifically singled out among similar entities of its class.

Translations

Pronoun

certain

1. (with of) Unnamed or undescribed members (of).

   She mentioned a series of contracts, of which certain are not cited

   • 1611, Bible (King James Version), Acts xxiii. 12

     Certain of the Jews banded together.

Synonyms

• (unnamed or undescribed members (of)): some

Noun

certain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something certain.

Further reading

• certain at OneLook Dictionary Search
• certain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• certain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cretian, ant rice, anticer, cantier, ceratin, citrean, creatin, crinate, nacrite, tacrine, tercian

French

Etymology

From Old French certain, from Vulgar Latin unattested form *cert?nus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??.t??/

Adjective

certain (feminine singular certaine, masculine plural certains, feminine plural certaines)

1. certain (sure, positive)

   Il est certain qu'il viendra.

   It is certain that he will arrive.

2. certain (fixed, determined)
3. certain (specified, particular)

Derived terms

Noun

certain m (plural certains)

1. certain; certainty

Determiner

certain

1. certain: a determined but unspecified amount of ; some

   Certaines personnes vont aller.

   Some people are going.

Related terms

• certainement
• certitude
• incertain

Further reading

• “certain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• carient, centrai, cernait, crainte, criante, écriant, encirât, encrait

Old French

Alternative forms

• (Picard dialect) chertain

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cert?nus, from Latin certus. Compare Old Italian and Old Spanish certano.

Adjective

certain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular certaine)

1. certain; sure

Declension

Synonyms

• seur

Related terms

• cert

Descendants

• ? Middle English: certeyn
  • English: certain
• French: certain

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ste?.b??/
• Rhymes: -e?b?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English stable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman stable and Old French estable, from Latin stabulum (“stall, stand”).

Noun

stable (plural stables)

1. A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) animals with hoofs, especially horses.
2. (metonymically) All the racehorses of a particular stable, i.e. belonging to a given owner.
3. (Scotland) A set of advocates; a barristers' chambers.
4. (sumo) An organization of sumo wrestlers who live and train together.

   Synonym: heya

5. A group of prostitutes managed by one pimp.

   Synonym: string

   • 2013, Noble Dee, Pimp: Reflection of My Life (page 167)

     My pimp vision enabled me to see that no hoe in my stable would be more worthy of the game than my young turnout red-bones.

Derived terms

• stablemate

Translations

Verb

stable (third-person singular simple present stables, present participle stabling, simple past and past participle stabled)

1. (transitive) to put or keep (an animal) in a stable.
   • 1954, C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy, Collins, 1998, Chapter 7,

     "I hope your have been quite comfortable." ¶ "Never better stabled in my life," said Bree.

2. (intransitive) to dwell in a stable.
3. (rail transport, transitive) to park (a rail vehicle).

Derived terms

• (rail transport): outstable

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English stable, from Anglo-Norman stable, stabel, from Latin stabilis (“firm, steadfast”) (itself from stare (“stand”) + -abilis (“able”)).

Adjective

stable (comparative stabler or more stable, superlative stablest or most stable)

1. Relatively unchanging, steady, permanent; firmly fixed or established; consistent; not easily moved, altered, or destroyed.
   • a. 1729, John Rogers, The Greatness of the Gospel Salvation

     In this region of chance, […] where nothing ws stable.

2. (computing) Of software: established to be relatively free of bugs, as opposed to a beta version.

3. (computer science, of a sorting algorithm) That maintains the relative order of items that compare as equal.

Synonyms

• (relatively unchanging): fixed, unvarying; see also Thesaurus:steady

Antonyms

• instable
• mobile
• unstable
• varying

Derived terms

• bistable
• instable
• tristable
• unistable
• unstable

Translations

Anagrams

• Bestla, ablest, ablets, bastle, belast, blates, bleats, tables

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stabilis. Replaced Middle French, Old French estable, an earlier borrowing from the same Latin source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stabl/

Adjective

stable (plural stables)

1. stable (relatively unchanging)

Antonyms

• instable

Related terms

• stabiliser
• stabilité

Further reading

• “stable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• baltes, tables

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman stable, from Vulgar Latin *stabula, probably a collective plural of Latin stabulum (“dwelling; stable”).

Noun

stable (plural stables or stablen)

1. stable (building for horses)

Alternative forms

• stabel, stabele, stabil, stabille, stabul, stabulle

Descendants

• English: stable
• Scots: stable
• ? Middle Irish: stábla
  • Irish: stábla
  • Scottish Gaelic: stàball

References

• “st?ble, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman stable, stabel, from Latin stabilis (“firm, steadfast”).

Adjective

stable (comparative stabler or stablere or stablour)

1. stable (relatively unchanging)

Alternative forms

• stabel, stabele, stabil, stabul

Descendants

• English: stable
• Scots: stable

References

• “st?ble, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

stable (plural stables)

1. Alternative form of stablie

Etymology 4

Noun

stable (plural stables)

1. Alternative form of stapel

Etymology 5

Verb

stable (third-person singular simple present stableth, present participle stablynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle stabled)

1. Alternative form of stablen (“to establish”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the noun stabel

Verb

stable (imperative stabl or stable, present tense stabler, passive stables, simple past and past participle stabla or stablet, present participle stablende)

1. to stack, pile

References

• “stable” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “stable” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the noun stabel

Verb

stable (present tense stablar, past tense stabla, past participle stabla, passive infinitive stablast, present participle stablande, imperative stabl)

1. to stack, pile

Alternative forms

• stabla

References

• “stable” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.