different between reliance vs certainty

English

Alternative forms

• relyance (obsolete)

Etymology

rely +? -ance

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???la??ns/
• Rhymes: -a??ns

Noun

reliance (countable and uncountable, plural reliances)

1. The act of relying (on or in someone or something); trust.
   • c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act II, Scene 1,^[1]

     […] his days and times are past

     And my reliances on his fracted [i.e. broken] dates

     Have smit my credit:

   • 1752, Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote, London: A. Millar, Volume 2, Book 9, Chapter 9, p. 288,^[2]

     How unfavourable is Chance, said Arabella fretting at the Disappointment, to Persons who have any Reliance upon it!

   • 1867, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson” in Biographical and Historical Sketches, New York: Appleton, p. 54,^[3]

     It was out of his power to support his son at either university; but a wealthy neighbor offered assistance; and, in reliance on promises which proved to be of very little value, Samuel was entered at Pembroke College, Oxford.

   • 1912, W. Somerset Maugham, Mrs. Dot, London: Heinemann, Act 2, p. 89,^[4]

     I put infinite reliance in your tact.

   • 1962, C. S. Forester, Hornblower and the Hotspur, London: Michael, Joseph, Chapter 3,^[5]

     Hornblower could see in a flash that he could place implicit reliance on Bush’s seamanship.

2. The condition of being reliant or dependent.
   • 1933, “‘Rumbling’ & ‘Goosing’,” Time, 25 September, 1933,^[6]

     […] he contended that habitual reliance on engine power causes a pilot to lose his ability to make a forced landing “deadstick” if necessary.

   • 2016, Roger Wilkins, “Australia’s economic wellbeing is at a standstill as rift between young and old widens,” The Guardian, 20 July, 2016,^[7]

     Poverty in Australia has declined, welfare reliance has stabilised and long-term poverty is becoming rare—but overall economic wellbeing is no longer improving […]

3. (dated) Anything on which to rely; ground of trust.

   The boat was a poor reliance.

   • 1593, Thomas Nashe, Christs Teares ouer Ierusalem, London: Thomas Thorp, 1613, p. 69,^[8]

     Thou wert once the chiefe pillar of my posterity, and the whole reliance of my name:

   • 1656, Robertson Sanderson, Twenty Sermons, London: Henry Seile, Sermon 14, p. 280,^[9]

     A horse is counted but a vain thing, […] to save a man. So are Chariots, and Forts, and Armies, and Navies, and all earthly reliances.

   • 1742, Samuel Richardson, Pamela, London: for the author, Volume 3, Letter 32, p. 286,^[10]

     Mr. Adams may marry as well as Mr. Williams; and both, I believe, will find God’s Providence a better Reliance, than the richest Benefice in England.

   • 1914, Stephen Leacock, Adventurers of the Far North, Toronto: Glasgow, Brook, Chapter 5, p. 123,^[11]

     Most ominous of all was the discovery of over six hundred empty cans that had held preserved meat, the main reliance of the expedition.

4. A person or thing which relies on another. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Derived terms

• overreliance, over-reliance
• self-reliance

Translations

Anagrams

• careline, cerealin, cinereal

English

Etymology

From Middle English certeynte (“surety”), from Anglo-Norman certeinte, from Old French certeinete, from Vulgar Latin *cert?nit?s, from Latin certus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?tn?ti/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??tn?ti/
• Hyphenation: cer?tain?ty

Noun

certainty (countable and uncountable, plural certainties)

1. The state of being certain.

   Synonyms: certitude, sureness

   Antonyms: doubt, uncertainty

   • October 12, 1786, Fisher Ames, "Lucius Junius Brutus", in Independent Chronicle

     The certainty of punishment is the truest security against crimes.

2. An instance of being certain.
3. A fact or truth unquestionably established.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sure thing

   • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk

     Yet the truth is that City would probably have been coasting by that point if the referee, Michael Oliver, had not turned down three separate penalties, at least two of which could be accurately described as certainties.

   • 1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations Volume 1

     Certainties are uninteresting and sating.

Derived terms

• certainty equivalent
• of a certainty

Related terms

• certain

Translations

Further reading

• certainty on Wikipedia.Wikipedia