Certainty

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Certainty \Cer"tain*ty\, n.; pl. {Certainties}. [OF.
     certainet['e].]
     1. The quality, state, or condition, of being certain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The certainty of punishment is the truest security


              against crimes. --Fisher Ames.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A fact or truth unquestionable established.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Certainties are uninteresting and sating. --Landor.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Law) Clearness; freedom from ambiguity; lucidity.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Of a certainty}, certainly.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  certainty
       n 1: the state of being certain; "his certainty reassured the
            others" [ant: {doubt}]
       2: something that is certain; "his victory is a certainty"
          [syn: {sure thing}, {foregone conclusion}] [ant: {uncertainty}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  85 Moby Thesaurus words for "certainty":
     absolutely, absoluteness, acceptation, acception, acquiescence,
     act of God, actuality, anticipation, assurance, assuredly,
     assuredness, authoritativeness, belief, certainly, certitude,
     confidence, connection, contemplation, conviction, credence,
     credit, credulity, definitely, definiteness, dependence, dogmatism,
     expectancy, expectation, fact, faith, fate, fatefulness, firmness,
     for a certainty, for sure, force majeure, hope, imminence,
     indefeasibility, indubitably, ineluctability, inescapableness,
     inevasibleness, inevitability, inevitable accident, inevitableness,
     inexorability, inflexibility, irrevocability, necessity,
     positively, positiveness, positivism, predetermination,
     probability, prospect, reality, reception, relentlessness,
     reliance, reliance on, self-assurance, staunchness, steadiness,
     stock, store, sure thing, surely, sureness, surety,
     suspension of disbelief, thought, trust, truth, unastonishment,
     unavoidable casualty, unavoidableness, uncontrollability,
     undeflectability, undeniably, undoubtedly, unpreventability,
     unquestionably, unyieldingness, vis major
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CERTAINTY, pleading. By certainty is understood a clear and distinct 
  statement of the facts which constitute the cause of action, or ground of 
  defence, so that they may be understood by the party who is to answer them, 
  by the jury who are to ascertain the truth of the allegations, and by the 
  court who are to give the judgment. Cowp. 682; Co. Litt. 308; 2 Bos. & Pull. 
  267; 13 East, R. 107; Com. Dig. Pleader, C 17; Hob. 295. Certainty has been 
  stated by Lord Coke, Co. Litt. 303, a, to be of three sorts namely, 1. 
  certainty to a common intent 2. to a certain intent in general; and, 3. to a 
  certain intent in every particular. In the case of Dovaston.v. Paine Buller, 
  J. said he remembered to have heard Mr. Justice Ashton treat these 
  distinctions as a jargon of words without meaning; 2 H. Bl. 530. They have, 
  however, long been made, and ought not altogether to be departed from. 
       2.-1. Certainty to a common intent is simply a rule of construction. 
  It occurs when words are used which will bear a natural sense, and also an 
  artificial one, or one to be made out by argument or inference. Upon the 
  ground of this rule the natural sense of words is adopted, without addition. 
  2 H. Bl. 530. 
       3.-2. Certainty to, a certain intent in general, is a greater degree 
  of certainty than the last, and means what upon a fair and reasonable 
  construction may be called certain, without recurring to possible facts 
  which do not appear; 9 Johns. R. 317; and is what is required in 
  declarations, replications, and indictments, in the charge or accusation, 
  and in returns to writs of mandamus. See 1 Saund. 49, n. 1; 1 Dougl. 159; 2 
  Johns. Cas. 339; Cowp. 682; 2 Mass. R. 363 by some of which authorities, it 
  would seem, certainty to a common intent is sufficient in a declaration. 
       4.-3. The third degree of certainty, is that which precludes all 
  argument, inference, or presumption against the party, pleading, and is that 
  technical accuracy which is not liable to the most subtle and scrupulous 
  objections, so that it is not merely a rule of construction, but of 
  addition; for where this certainty is necessary, the party must not only 
  state the facts of his case in the most precise way, but add to them such as 
  show that they are not to be controverted, and, as it were, anticipate the 
  case of his adversary. Lawes on Pl. 54, 55. See 1 Chitty on Pl. 235 to 241. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CERTAINTY, UNCERTAINTY, contracts. In matters of obligation, a thing is 
  certain, when its essence, quality, and quantity, are described, distinctly 
  set forth, Dig. 12, 1, 6. It is uncertain, when the description is not that 
  of one individual object, but designates only the kind. Louis. Code, art. 
  3522, No. 8 5 Co. 121. Certainty is the mother of repose, and therefore the 
  law aims at certainty. 1 Dick. 245. Act of the 27th of July, 1789, ii. 2, 1 
  Story's Laws, 6. His compensation for his servicer, shall not exceed two 
  thousand dollars per annum. Gordon's Dig. art. 211. 
       2. If a contract be so vague in its terms, that its meaning cannot be 
  certainly collected, and the statute of frauds preclude the admissibility of 
  parol evidence to clear up the difficulty; 5 Barn. & Cr. 588; S. C. 12 Eng. 
  Com. L. R. 827; or parol evidence cannot supply the defect, then neither at 
  law, nor in equity, can effect be given to it. 1 Russ. & M. 116; 1 Ch. Pr. 
  123. 
       3. It is a maxim of law, that, that is certain which may be made 
  certain; certum est quod certum reddi potest Co. Litt. 43; for example, when 
  a man sells the oil he has in his store at so much a gallon, although there 
  is uncertainty as to the quantity of oil, yet inasmuch as it can be 
  ascertained, the maxim applies, and the sale is good. Vide generally, Story, 
  Eq. El. Sec. 240 to 256; Mitf. Pl. by Jeremy, 41; Coop. Eq. Pl. 5; Wigr. on 
  Disc. 77.