incertus, incerta, incertum

Definitions for incertus

Wheelock's Latin

Adjective

1
uncertain, unsure, doubtful
English derivatives:
incertitude

Oxford Latin Dictionary

Adjective

1
Not fixed, ordained, or predetermined; (of fevers) not having a fixed cycle. (b) that cannot be known beforehand, subject to chance, unpredictable; also in ~o. (c) (neut. as sb., esp.) a hazard, uncertainty.
2
Not specified or defined; in ~um, for an indefinite period.
3
(of battles, disputes, or their results) Not yet decided, hanging in the balance; also in ~o.
4
Not certain to happen or be realized, not inevitable; (of hopes) not certain of fulfilment; also in ~o.
5
About which one cannot be confident, not dependable, unsure, unsafe; (ncut. sg. as sb.) a precarious state. (b) (of persons in specified capacities). (c) (of ground in respect of footing).

See more definitions

Sentences with incertus

Latin to English

Fidem habentibus nihil est incertum.Compare To those having faith nothing is uncertain.

Caesare incertō, bellum timēbāmus.Compare Since Caesar was uncertain (with Caesar uncertain), we were afraid of war.

Incertās spēs eōrum virtūte suā aluit.Compare He nourished their uncertain hopes by his own courage.

Insanam autem esse aiunt quia atrox incerta instabilisque sit; caecam ob eam rem esse iterant quia nil cernat quo sese adplicet; brutam quia dignum atque indignum nequeat internoscere.Compare Foolish, they say because she is cruel, uncertain, fickle; blind, because she does not see whither she goes; stupid because she cannot distinguish between the deserving and the undeserving.

Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur. (Quoted by Cicero, De Amicit., 64)Compare A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Duo legio urbanus ad incertus bellum scribo.Compare They enrolled two city legions to meet the uncertainties of war.

Elephantus inter duo acies versor, velut incertus quis sum, haud dissimiliter navis sine gubernaculum vagus.Compare The elephants began to move to and fro between the two armies, as if uncertain to whom they belonged, not unlike ships drifting without a helm.

Data sources

Notes

Definitions
Frederick M. Wheelock, Wheelock's Latin, 6th ed., rev. Richard A. LaFleur (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005): 143.
P. G. W. Glare, Oxford Latin Dictionary, Vols. 1-8 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982): 863.
Word frequencies
Paul B. Diederich, The Frequency of Latin Words and Their Endings, PhD diss., (Columbia University, 1939).
Louis Delatte, Suzanne Govaerts, Joseph Denooz, and Etienne Evrard, Dictionnaire fréquentiel et index inverse de la langue latine [Frequency Dictionary and Inverse Index of the Latin Language] (Liège, Belgium: Laboratoire d'analyse statistique des langues anciennes de l'Université de Liège [L.A.S.L.A.], 1981): 123.

Bibliography

Allen, Joseph H. Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges: Founded on Comparative Grammar. Edited by James B. Greenough, George L. Kittredge, Albert A. Howard, and Benjamin L. D'Ooge. Boston, MA: Ginn & Company, 1903.

Crystal, David. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 6th ed. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2008.

Delatte, Louis, Suzanne Govaerts, Joseph Denooz, and Etienne Evrard. Dictionnaire fréquentiel et index inverse de la langue latine [Frequency Dictionary and Inverse Index of the Latin Language]. Liège, Belgium: Laboratoire d'analyse statistique des langues anciennes de l'Université de Liège (L.A.S.L.A.), 1981.

Diederich, Paul B. The Frequency of Latin Words and Their Endings. PhD diss., Columbia University, 1939.

Francese, Christopher. "Latin Core Vocabulary." Dickinson College Commentaries. Last modified 2014. http://dcc.dickinson.edu/latin-vocabulary-list.

Gildersleeve, Basil L., and Gonzales Lodge. Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar: Third Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. 3rd ed. London, England: Macmillan and Co., 1903.

Glare, Peter G.W. Oxford Latin Dictionary. Vols. 1-8. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1982.

Krüger, Bernd. "Latin Conjugation Tables." Cactus2000. Accessed May 5, 2023. https://latin.cactus2000.de/index.en.php.

Pierson, Nick. "Sound of Text." Accessed October 26, 2019. https://soundoftext.com.

Wheelock, Frederick M. Wheelock's Latin. 6th ed. Revised by Richard A. LaFleur. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005.

Wiktionary Contributors. "Victionarium." Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Updated March 18, 2019. https://la.wiktionary.org/wiki/Victionarium:Pagina_prima.

Citation

Chicago (17th ed.)

Allo Contributors. "incertus, incerta, incertum (adj.) - Latin Word Definition." Allo Latin Dictionary. Last modified August 29, 2023. Accessed November 21, 2024. http://ancientlanguages.org/latin/dictionary/incertus-incerta-incertum.