certitude

Forms

certitude f (plural certitudes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin certitūdō (“certainty, conviction”), which in Christian Latin meant especially the certainty of faith.^[2][3] The Late Latin noun is derived from Latin certus (“sure, certain”), the source of certain.^[2][4][5]

Cognate with Old Occitan sertetut, Catalan certitud, Spanish certidumbre and Italian certitudine.^[6] Littré notes that Old French had said certaineté instead, a word he regretted to see fall out of use.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1375 in Nicole Oresme's treatise on the invention of money, in the objective sense “the quality of being certain, assured, beyond doubt”: la certitude du poix, the reliability of a coin's weight.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The objective sense (the certainty of a fact) came first; the subjective sense, a state of mind free of doubt, a conviction, is recorded from 1462.^[2][3] By extension the word also came to mean a thing that is certain, a sure fact.^[7] In philosophy it names the mind's assent when it knows, as opposed to belief or opinion.^[8][6]

A metaphorical term of the graphic arts, recorded in 1757, used it for the firmness of the hand guiding the burin, the point or the brush.^[2][6] The older sense “assurance, guarantee” of something survives only rarely in literary use.^[2]

The English word certitude was taken in the early 15th century from the Old French word and directly from Late Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – Nicole Oresme uses it of the certainty of a coin's weight.^[2]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as certitude.^[9]
• 1462 – First recorded in the sense “conviction, a mind's certainty of something”.^[2][3]
• 1495 – The derivative incertitude is first recorded.^[4][3]
• 1757 – Pernety's dictionary of painting records it for the sureness of an engraver's or painter's hand.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of what is certain or beyond doubt; a thing that is certain: c'est désormais une certitude.^[8][10][11]
2. The state of mind of someone who has no doubt; conviction, assurance: il a la certitude qu'elle reviendra.^[8][11]
3. (philosophy) The mind's firm assent to what it knows.^[8][6]
4. (art, dated) Sureness and firmness of the hand in engraving or painting.^[2][6]

Word family

• incertitude

Related words

• certain
• certes
• Latin certus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)