different between complete vs certain

English

Etymology

From Middle English compleet (“full, complete”), borrowed from Old French complet or Latin completus, past participle of comple? (“I fill up, I complete”) (whence also complement, compliment), from com- + ple? (“I fill, I fulfill”) (whence also deplete, replete, plenty), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh?- (“to fill”) (English full).

Alternative forms

• compleat (archaic)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?m?pli?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t
• Hyphenation: com?plete

Verb

complete (third-person singular simple present completes, present participle completing, simple past and past participle completed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To finish; to make done; to reach the end.

   Synonyms: accomplish, finish; see also Thesaurus:end

2. (transitive) To make whole or entire.

   Synonyms: consummate, perfect, top off

3. (poker) To call from the small blind in an unraised pot.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

complete (comparative completer or more complete, superlative completest or most complete)

1. With all parts included; with nothing missing; full.

   Synonyms: entire, total; see also Thesaurus:entire

2. Finished; ended; concluded; completed.

   Synonyms: concluded, done; see also Thesaurus:finished

3. Generic intensifier.

   Synonyms: downright, utter; see also Thesaurus:total

4. (mathematical analysis, of a metric space) In which every Cauchy sequence converges to a point within the space.
5. (algebra, of a lattice) In which every set with a lower bound has a greatest lower bound.
6. (mathematics, of a category) In which all small limits exist.
7. (logic, of a proof system of a formal system with respect to a given semantics) In which every semantically valid well-formed formula is provable.
   • Gödel's first incompleteness theorem showed that Principia could not be both consistent and complete. According to the theorem, for every sufficiently powerful logical system (such as Principia), there exists a statement G that essentially reads, "The statement G cannot be proved." Such a statement is a sort of Catch-22: if G is provable, then it is false, and the system is therefore inconsistent; and if G is not provable, then it is true, and the system is therefore incomplete.^WP
8. (computing theory, of a problem) That is in a given complexity class and is such that every other problem in the class can be reduced to it (usually in polynomial time or logarithmic space).

Antonyms

• incomplete

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

complete (plural completes)

1. A completed survey.
   • 1994, industry research published in Quirk's Marketing Research Review, Volume 8, p. 125; Research Services Directory Blue Book, published by the Marketing Research Association, p 552; and Green Book, Volume 32, published by the New York Chapter, American Marketing Association, p. 451

     “If SSI says we're going to get two completes an hour, the sample will yield two Qualifieds to do the survey with us.”

   • 2013, Residential Rates OIR webinar published by PG&E, January 31, 2013

     “…our market research professionals continue to advise us that providing the level of detail necessary to customize to each typical customer type would require the survey to be too lengthy and it would be difficult to get enough completes.”

   • 2016, "Perceptions of Oral Cancer Screenings Compared to Other Cancer Screenings: A Pilot Study", thesis for Idaho State University by M. Colleen Stephenson.

     “Don’t get discouraged if you’re on a job that is difficult to get completes on! Everyone else on the job is most likely struggling, and there will be easier surveys that you will dial on.”

Further reading

• complete in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• complete in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

Anagrams

• Lecompte

Interlingua

Adjective

complete (comparative plus complete, superlative le plus complete)

1. complete

Italian

Adjective

complete

1. feminine plural of completo

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kom?ple?.te/, [k?m?p??e?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kom?ple.te/, [k?m?pl??t??]

Verb

compl?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of comple?

Portuguese

Verb

complete

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of completar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of completar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of completar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of completar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kom?plete/, [kõm?ple.t?e]

Verb

complete

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of completar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of completar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of completar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of completar.

English

Alternative forms

• certaine (obsolete)
• certeine (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English certeyn, certein, certain, borrowed from Old French certain, from a Vulgar Latin unattested form *cert?nus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”), of the same origin as cretus, past participle of cernere (“to separate, perceive, decide”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ?ewiss (“certain, sure”)) and alternative Middle English spelling sertane (“some, certain”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??tn?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?tn?/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?s?t?n/, /?s?tn?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t?n
• Hyphenation: cer?tain

Adjective

certain (comparative more certain, superlative most certain)

1. Sure, positive, not doubting.

   I was certain of my decision.

   Spain is now certain of a place in the finals.

2. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
3. Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
4. Actually existing; sure to happen; inevitable.

   Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.
5. Unfailing; infallible.
   • 1702, Richard Mead, Mechanical Account of Poisons
6. I have often wished , that I knew so certain a remedy in any other disease
7. Fixed or stated; regular; determinate.

   • The people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day.

8. Known but not specifically named; indeterminate; indefinite; one or some; sometimes used independently as a noun, and meaning certain persons; see also "one".

   • It came to pass when he was in a certain city.

Synonyms

• (not doubting): See also Thesaurus:certain
• (sure to happen): unavoidable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable

Antonyms

• (not doubting): uncertain
• (sure to happen): impossible, incidental
• (known but not named): particular specific

Derived terms

• certainly (adv)

Related terms

• certainty (n)

Translations

Determiner

certain

1. Having been determined but not specified. The quality of some particular subject or object which is known by the speaker to have been specifically singled out among similar entities of its class.

Translations

Pronoun

certain

1. (with of) Unnamed or undescribed members (of).

   She mentioned a series of contracts, of which certain are not cited

   • 1611, Bible (King James Version), Acts xxiii. 12

     Certain of the Jews banded together.

Synonyms

• (unnamed or undescribed members (of)): some

Noun

certain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something certain.

Further reading

• certain at OneLook Dictionary Search
• certain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• certain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cretian, ant rice, anticer, cantier, ceratin, citrean, creatin, crinate, nacrite, tacrine, tercian

French

Etymology

From Old French certain, from Vulgar Latin unattested form *cert?nus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??.t??/

Adjective

certain (feminine singular certaine, masculine plural certains, feminine plural certaines)

1. certain (sure, positive)

   Il est certain qu'il viendra.

   It is certain that he will arrive.

2. certain (fixed, determined)
3. certain (specified, particular)

Derived terms

Noun

certain m (plural certains)

1. certain; certainty

Determiner

certain

1. certain: a determined but unspecified amount of ; some

   Certaines personnes vont aller.

   Some people are going.

Related terms

• certainement
• certitude
• incertain

Further reading

• “certain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• carient, centrai, cernait, crainte, criante, écriant, encirât, encrait

Old French

Alternative forms

• (Picard dialect) chertain

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cert?nus, from Latin certus. Compare Old Italian and Old Spanish certano.

Adjective

certain m (oblique and nominative feminine singular certaine)

1. certain; sure

Declension

Synonyms

• seur

Related terms

• cert

Descendants

• ? Middle English: certeyn
  • English: certain
• French: certain