certifico

Forms

certificō (present infinitive certificāre, perfect active certificāvī, supine certificātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin certus (“certain, sure”) + -ficō, the second element going back to faciō (“to make”).^[1][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Augustine (354–430 AD) says in a sermon that Thomas remained doubtful ut nōs certificāret, “so that he might make us sure”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

One manuscript of the Latin Bible has certificātī at Acts 16:10, where the other manuscripts read certī factī, “being sure”.^[2][5] Gaffiot also finds it in a grammarian.^[4] In Late Latin it meant to make someone certain, to strengthen in faith.^[5][3]

In Medieval Latin it became common: to inform someone exactly, to make a thing clear, to ascertain, to assure and to confirm, and in law and government to certify formally.^[6][1] It passed into Old French certifier and Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan certificar.^[1]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine, of Thomas making believers sure.^[2][7]
• Medieval Latin – In charters and letters it comes to mean “to certify”.^[6][1]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Late Latin, transitive) To make certain, assure; to confirm in faith.^[5][3][4][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) To inform exactly; to make clear, demonstrate.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) To certify, attest.^[1][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de