certo

From Old Galician-Portuguese certo (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin certus.

• Rhymes: -ɛɾto
• Hyphenation: cer‧to

certo (feminine certa, masculine plural certos, feminine plural certas)

1. right, correct
2. certain
3. fixed, settled, firm
4. sure

   Non estou certo diso ― I'm not sure about that

• acertar
• certamente
• certeza
• certidume

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “certo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “certo”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “certo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “certo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “certo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

certo (not comparable)

1. certainly

Inherited from Latin certus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛr.to/

• Audio::

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrto
• Hyphenation: cèr‧to

certo (feminine certa, masculine plural certi, feminine plural certe, superlative certissimo)

1. certain, sure
2. reliable
3. real, true
   • Dante, Inferno 1.66:

     qual che tu sii, od ombra od omo certo!

     • 1867 translation by Longfellow

       whiche’er thou art, or shade or real man!

4. (preposition) some, certain

• incerto

• certamente
• certezza
• certuno
• di certo

• cernere
• certificare

certo

1. certainly, of course, surely, definitely

   Synonyms: certamente, di certo, sicuramente, di sicuro

• → Sardinian: tzertu

• corte, recto, torce

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkɛr.toː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃɛr.to]

From certus (“resolved, certain”) + -ō.

• certor

certō (present infinitive certāre, perfect active certāvī, supine certātum); first conjugation

1. to match, vie with, emulate

   Synonym: aemulor

3. to fight, wrestle

   Synonyms: lūctor, repugnō, pugnō, contendō, dēcernō, concurrō, bellō, dīmicō, cōnflīgō, committō, serō, dēcertō

4. to contend, compete, race
5. to struggle, strive

   Synonyms: lūctor, cōnītor, cōnor, ēlabōrō, temptō, affectō, adnītor, īnsequor, appetō, labōrō, tendō, quaerō, studeō, ēnītor, pugnō, mōlior, contendō, perīclitor, spectō, nītor

6. (military) to fight it out
7. (law) to dispute

   Synonyms: dēcertō, contendō

8. (with infinitive) to try hard
   • Vergilius, Aeneid X, 130:

     Hi iaculis, illi certant defendere saxis

     These try to defend with javelins, those with stones

¹The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.
²At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

• Albanian: qërtoj
• Aromanian: ntsertu, ntsirtari
• Italian: certare
• Portuguese: certar
• Romanian: certa, certare
• Sardinian: chertare, certari, certai

From certus + -ō.

certō (comparative certius, superlative certissimē)

1. certainly, surely
2. with certainty, without doubt

• certē

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

certō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of certus

• Professor Kidd, et al. Collins Gem Latin Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers (Glasgow: 2004). →ISBN. page 54.

From Old Galician-Portuguese certo, from Latin certus (“certain”), past participle of cernō (“to sift; to discern”), from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to move; to separate”).

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɾtu
• Hyphenation: cer‧to

certo (feminine certa, masculine plural certos, feminine plural certas, comparable, comparative mais certo, superlative o mais certo or certíssimo, diminutive certinho)

1. right; correct (not containing errors)

   Synonym: correto

   Antonyms: errado, incorreto

   A resposta está certa. ― The answer is correct.

2. certain; sure (without doubt)

   Antonym: incerto

   • 1572, Luís Vaz de Camões, Os Lusíadas, 8th canto:

     Que leuar a ſeu Rei hum ſinal certo / Do mundo, que deixa deſcuberto.

     Than taking to his king a certain sign / Of the world he leaves discovered.

3. precise; accurate

   Synonyms: certeiro, preciso

   Antonym: impreciso

4. morally right; just
5. inevitable (impossible to avoid or prevent)

   Synonym: inevitável

   Antonym: evitável

   A morte é certa. ― Death is inevitable.

certo (comparable, comparative mais certo, superlative o mais certo)

1. correctly

   Synonym: corretamente

   Antonyms: erroneamente, incorretamente

   • Fernando Pessoa (heteronym Alberto Caeiro), O espelho reflecte certo:

     O espelho reflecte certo; não erra porque não pensa.

     The mirror reflects correctly; it doesn't miss because it doesn't think.

2. surely

   Synonyms: certamente, por certo, indubitavelmente, sem dúvida

   • 1572, Luís Vaz de Camões, Os Lusíadas, 2nd canto:

     Mas tu, em quem muy certo confiamos

     But you, who we very surely trust.

certo (feminine certa, masculine plural certos, feminine plural certas)

1. certain (determined but unspecified)

• cernir
• certidão
• certificar
• discernir

certo

1. OK, all right

• “certo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “certo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026