incertus

Latin

Etymology

From in- (“un-”) +‎ certus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪŋˈkɛr.tʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [in̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛr.t̪us]

Adjective

incertus (feminine incerta, neuter incertum, comparative incertior, superlative incertissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. uncertain, doubtful, not sure, unsure

   Synonyms: dubius, suspensus, vagus, anceps

   Antonyms: certus, prōmptus, indubius, fixus

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.110:

     [...] “Sed fātīs incerta feror, [...].”

     [Venus replies to Juno:] “But I, being subject to the fates, am uncertain [...].”

   pater semper incertus est — the father is always uncertain

   incertam securim — an axe not surely aimed

2. not knowing, doubting (said of persons)
3. not known, obscure (said of things)
4. hesitant, hesitating, irresolute, undecided

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	incertus	incerta	incertum		incertī	incertae	incerta
genitive	incertī	incertae	incertī		incertōrum	incertārum	incertōrum
dative	incertō	incertae	incertō		incertīs
accusative	incertum	incertam	incertum		incertōs	incertās	incerta
ablative	incertō	incertā	incertō		incertīs
vocative	incerte	incerta	incertum		incertī	incertae	incerta

Descendants

• → Translingual: incertae sedis

Noun

incertus m (genitive incertī); second declension

1. uncertainty

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	incertus	incertī
genitive	incertī	incertōrum
dative	incertō	incertīs
accusative	incertum	incertōs
ablative	incertō	incertīs
vocative	incerte	incertī

References

• “incertus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “incertus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “incertus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I am undecided..: incertus sum, quid consilii capiam
    
  • (ambiguous) to leave a thing undecided: aliquid dubium, incertum relinquere