English
certitude
Certitude comes from Middle French certitude ‘certainty’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kritos1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcertus2‘certain’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcertitūdō2‘certainty, certitude’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600certitude2‘certainty’
- Englishtodaycertitude2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin certus
- 2 Wiktionary, English certitude
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Latin certus‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kritosWiktionary, Latin certusreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcertusWiktionary, English certitude‘certain’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcertitūdōWiktionary, English certitude‘certainty, certitude’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600certitudeWiktionary, English certitude‘certainty’
- EnglishtodaycertitudeWiktionary, English certitude
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’
secretary, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, discretion, critic, discrete, critique, discriminate, riddle, discreet, hypocrite, criterion, endocrine, discern, excrement, incriminate, excretion, rime, excrete, incrimination, recrimination, ridder, criterium, 42 more
through Proto-Italic *kritos
certainly, certainty, ascertain, 4 more
through Latin certus ‘certain’
Today it means
noun Sureness, certainty.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “certitude”; 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- / certitude