certain

Examples: "I can see the certain from here." "That certain belongs to me." "The certain is very important."

Middle English {it}certeyn, certayne{/it}, borrowed from Anglo-French {it}certein, certain{/it}, going back to Vulgar Latin {it}*certānus{/it}, from Latin {it}certus{/it} "fixed, settled, indisputable," originally past participle of {it}cernere{/it} "to sift, discern, decide, determine" (going back to an Indo-European present stem {it}*kri-n-{/it}, verbal adjective {it}*kri-to-{/it}, from a verbal base {it}*krei̯̯̯(h{inf}1{/inf})-{/it} "sift, separate," whence Greek {it}krī́nein{/it} "to separate, choose, decide," verbal adjective {it}kritós{/it}, Welsh go{it}grynu{/it} "to sift") + {it}-ānus{/it} + -an:2

Middle English certeyn, certayne, borrowed from Anglo-French certein, certain, going back to Vulgar Latin *certānus, from Latin certus "fixed, settled, indisputable," originally past participle of cernere "to sift, discern, decide, determine" (going back to an Indo-European present stem *kri-n-, verbal adjective *kri-to-, from a verbal base {it}*krei̯̯̯(h{inf}1{/inf})-{/it} "sift, separate," whence Greek krī́nein "to separate, choose, decide," verbal adjective kritós, Welsh gogrynu "to sift") + -ānus + -an:2