Etymograph

English

certes

Certes comes from Latin certus ‘certain’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kritos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcertus2‘certain’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500certes2‘certainly’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604certes2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin certus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English certes
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello: “[F]or certes, ſayes he, / I haue already choſen…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Latin certus‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kritosWiktionary, Latin certusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcertusWiktionary, English certes‘certain’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500certesWiktionary, English certes‘certainly’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604certesWiktionary, English certes. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello: “[F]or certes, ſayes he, / I haue already choſen…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’

secretary, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, critic, discretion, critique, riddle, discreet, discrete, discriminate, hypocrite, criterion, endocrine, excrement, discern, excretion, rime, incrimination, incriminate, recrimination, excrete, ridder, criterium, 41 more

through Proto-Italic *kritos

certainly, certainty, ascertain, 3 more

through Latin certus ‘certain’

certain, certitude, 6 more

Today it means

adv Certainly, indeed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “certes”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin certus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / certes

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