Etymology

certainty

cer·tain·ty
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Today it means: The state of being certain. Full definition →

Middle English certeynte ← Anglo-Norman certeinte ← Old French certeinete
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcertus
  2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*certānitās
  3. Old French · derived fromcerteinete
  4. Anglo-Norman · derived fromcerteinte
  5. Middle English · inherited fromcerteynte“surety”
  6. English todaycertainty

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

Words from the same roots

Latincertus all →

certainascertaincertitudecertescertamen

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.