different between certain vs unique

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

Etymology

Borrowed from French unique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju??ni?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Adjective

unique (comparative uniquer or more unique, superlative uniquest or most unique)

1. (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.

   Synonyms: one of a kind, sui generis, singular

2. Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
3. Particular, characteristic.
4. (proscribed) Of a rare quality, unusual.

Usage notes

• The comparative and superlative forms uniquer or more unique and uniquest or most unique, as well as the use of unique with modifiers as in fairly unique and very unique, are grammatically proscribed, with the reasoning that either something is unique or it is not.

Derived terms

• uniquely
• uniqueness
• uniquity

Related terms

• unicity
• one-of-a-kind
• inimitable

Translations

Noun

unique (plural uniques)

1. A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled; one of a kind.
   • a. 1859, Thomas De Quincey, Language

     The phoenix, the unique of birds.

Translations

Further reading

• unique in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• unique in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “unique” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y.nik/

Adjective

unique (plural uniques)

1. unique
2. only

Derived terms

Related terms

• un

Descendants

• ? Danish: unik
• ? Dutch: uniek
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: unik
• ? Norwegian Nynorsk: unik
• ? Swedish: unik
• ? Turkish: ünik

Further reading

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