| 释义 |
▪ I. unˈcertain, a.
Forms: (see un-1 and certain a.).
[un-1 7; cf. F. incertain incertain a., and L. incertus.]
1. a. Not determinate or fixed in point of time or occurrence; that may happen earlier or later.
a1300Cursor M. 23733 Es nathing certainur þan dede, Ne vncertainner þan es þe tide. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1952 What es mare uncertayn thyng, Þan es þe tyme of the dede commyng. 1388Wyclif Wisd. x. 7 Trees hauynge fruytis in vncerteyn tyme. c1480Henryson Thre Deid Pollis 12 (Bann. MS.), The hour of deth and place Is vncertane. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 240 Vncertayne is thy deth, remember thyne ende. 1549Compl. Scot. 36 The terme of cristis cumming is schort, ande the day on⁓certane. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 462 b, To be differed to a tyme uncerten. a1627Sir J. Beaumont Miserable St. Man 39 Which fixe our minds on that vncertaine day When these shall faile, most certaine to decay. 1811Regul. & Ord. Army 135 The Captain and Subaltern of the Day of each Regiment are to visit the Hospital at different and uncertain Hours.
b. Not determinate or fixed in amount, number, or extent.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6688 Betwyxe oure ioye, and ȝoure peyne, ys endles tyme, and vncerteyne. 1382Wyclif Job xv. 20 The noumbre of ȝeris of his tiraundise is vncertein. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. ix. (1885) 127 Sithyn the said extraordinarie charges bith so vncertayne þat thai be not estymable. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Yard-land, This uncertain quantity in 28 of Edward IV. is call'd a Verge of Land. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. I. 339 The activity of the winds, their continual change, and uncertain duration. 1775Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 14 A duty of very uncertain extent. 1816Shelley Hymn Intell. Beauty iv. 2 Love, Hope, and Self-esteem, like clouds depart And come, for some uncertain moments lent. 1839Stonehouse Axholme 25 The warp along the shores of the Trent forms a bed of uncertain thickness.
c. Having no regular shape. rare—1.
1742Leoni Palladio's Archit. I. 81 It was pav'd with uncertain Stones, that is, such as had unequal sides and angles.
2. a. Not certain or determined in respect of occurrence; dependent on chance or accident.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5995 Here mercy ys ful on-certeyn But þey ȝelde hem here gode aȝeyn. 1484Coventry Leet Bk. 518 Because they shuld not come in þe market..Howe-so-euer þe price of whete went higher or lower, which was thought vncerteyn. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xix. 32 The things future, being also euents very vncertaine, and such as can not possibly be knowne because they be not yet. 1634Milton Comus 360 Peace brother, be not over-exquisite To cast the fashion of uncertain evils. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 269 Such remainder is contingent, because it is uncertain which of them will survive. 1853Abp. Thomson Laws Th. (ed. 3) §124. 332 Uncertain events are those wherein no cause or law appears, to determine the occurrence of one rather than of another. 1880Science-Gossip XXV. 116/1 There are small ledges here and there formed..by the uncertain deposit of material, or by the uncertain slip of shingle.
b. Devoid of, lacking in, certainty or settled character; liable to change or accident.
1477Rolls of Parlt. VI. 168/1 The lyf of every creature is uncertayn. 1503–4Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 25 Preamble, Lyfe [is] as uncertayne to suche as survyve as was to them now departed. 1526Tindale 1 Tim. vi. 17 Charge them..that they be not excedynge wyse, and that they trust not in the vncertayne riches, but in the livynge god. 1607Shakes. Timon v. i. 205 Their Aches, losses, Their pangs of Loue, with other incident throwes That Natures fragile Vessell doth sustaine In lifes vncertaine voyage. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1687) 86/2 He ought not voluntarily to thrust himself into destruction..; that he should leave his Children in an uncertain mean estate. 1690Locke Hum. Und. i. iii. §13 Truth and Certainty..are not at all secured by them: But Men are in the same uncertain, floating estate with, as without them. 1743Francis tr. Hor., Odes iii. xxix. 39 For the World's uncertain Fate Alarm'd. 1828Lytton Pelham III. x, My mother was much better, but still in a very uncertain and dangerous state of health. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 163 There is nothing so uncertain as bodily health and human destiny. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xlv, His philosophic teacher..persuaded him that a firm death was preferable to troubled and uncertain life.
3. a. About which one cannot be certain or assured; subject to doubt.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 324 Who may now in Rome haf any sikernesse, Þat þer is hiest dome, & ȝit vncerteyn es? c1374Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. iii. (1868) 154 Þan ne sholde þer ben no stedfast prescience of þinge to comen but raþer an vncerteyn oppinioun. 1382Wyclif 1 Cor. ix. 26 Therfore I renne so, not as into an uncerteyn thing; thus I fiȝte, not as betynge the eyr. c1400Destr. Troy 9206 Hit semith me vnsertain, all serchyng of wayes. 1484Caxton Fables of Auian xvi, Men ought not to lete goo..what they be sure of, hopynge to haue afterwards that..whiche is vncertayne. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 126 Petrus Arias..hath offered hym selfe to aduenture his lyfe..vnder vncerteyne hope of gayne. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 12 The purpose you vndertake is dangerous, the Friends you haue named vncertaine. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 2 Vncertaine stories, which not only perplexe the hearers, but beget incredulitie, oftentimes amongst the credulous. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 70 It is very difficult, and a thing uncertain also to arrive herein unto Exactness. 1718Prior Solomon i. 740 Forc'd by reflective Reason I confess, That human Science is uncertain Guess. 1794S. Williams Vermont (1809) I. vii. 221 If the facts had been true, the conclusions which have been drawn from them would have been wholly uncertain. 1798Wordsw. Tintern Abbey 19 With some uncertain notice, as might seem Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. xxi. 548 New, important, and uncertain or unexpected results, are to be repeated once or twice.
absol.1484Caxton Fables of Auian xvi, Men ought not to leue that thynge whiche is sure & certayne, for hope to haue the vncertayn. 1548Hall Chron. Hen. VI, 129 It was not the poynt of a wiseman, to leave and let passe, the certain for the uncertain.
b. Of ways, etc.: Not clearly leading to a certain goal or destination.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 363 Certis þat man were a fool þat wolde take þis uncerteine weie, and leeve þe certeyn witt and feyþ. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Iter ambiguum, vncertayne way. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. ii. 64 Murther her Brothers, and then marry her, Vncertaine way of gaine. 1640Denham Cooper's H. (1655) 295 He..more Repents his courage, then his feare before; Finds that uncertaine waies unsafest are. 1653J. Taylor (Water P.) title, The certain Travailes of an uncertain Journey. 1784Cowper Task iii. 3 One who, long in thickets and in brakes Entangled, winds now this way and now that His devious course uncertain, seeking home. 1805Wordsw. Prelude vi. 696 Doubting not that..by no uncertain path..Led, as before, we should behold the scene. 1818Keats Endym. ii. 48 For many days, Has he been wandering in uncertain ways: Through wilderness.
c. That cannot be relied on to produce a particular result.
1382Wyclif Wisd. ix. 14 The thoȝtis forsothe of deadli men [ben] dredful, and vncerteyn oure purueauncis. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iv. 25 So vp and downe he wandred many a mile, With wearie trauell and vncertaine toile. 1759R. Brown Compl. Farmer ii. 119 Hops are a very uncertain crop. 1765Museum Rust. IV. 314 He admits the spring-sowing to be uncertain. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 175 These expensive and uncertain treaties. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 186 In this arid region..maize, barley, and caffre corn, afford the husbandman a miserable and uncertain crop.
4. a. Not known with certainty; not established or proved beyond doubt; doubtful, dubious.
a1325Prose Psalter l. 7 Þe vncerteyn þynges and pryue of þy wisdom þou made to me apert. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 334 Roberte's men þei slowe, þe numbre vncerteyn. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 63 Hit is vncerteyn who bulde first þis citee. 1538Starkey England (1878) 61 Fortune, or els what other name soeuer you wyl gyue to the blynd and vncertayne causys wych be not in mannys powar. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. 22 Euen the wisest of them..in theyr prayers do cal vpon vncertayne gods. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 68 The Earle of Saillisberrie quho was slaine be the schot of ane goun, wncertane hou or be quhat way. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 288 Uncertaine it is, whether he made these buildings, or the buildings made him. 1639Ld. Balmerino in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 48 Occurrents heere are vncertain. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §5 What was uncertain in the primitive times cannot be undoubted in the subsequent. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca iii. xiv. 260 It is uncertain who was the inventor of divination by sacrifices... By some it is ascribed to the Hetrurians. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 121 The relation [of the Parmenides] to the other writings of Plato is..uncertain.
b. Without clear signification; ambiguous. Phr. in no uncertain terms, emphatically, very clearly indeed.
1382Wyclif 1 Cor. xiv. 8 If the trumpe ȝyue vncerteyn vois [1388 soune], who schal make him silf redy to bateil? 1611Bible 1 Cor. xiv. 8 If the trumpet giue an vncertaine sound. 1663Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xvi, Metaphorical or borrowed words, which..make an uncertain sound, and leave the mind in confusion. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 298 marg., Where a Deed is uncertain, it is void. 1905G. Thorne Lost Cause x, When the most influential part of the Press began to speak with no uncertain voice. 1958L. Durrell Balthazar vi. 139 And what's more, I told Abdul so in no uncertain terms. ‘Lay a finger on the girl..and I'll get you run in.’ 1976J. Snow Cricket Rebel 132 Here we were bowling them out so that they could take advantage of it [sc. a green wicket]. They did that in no uncertain terms. 1977Time Out 28 Jan.–3 Feb. 7/1 Five months after the programme was axed, Edmonds was told in no uncertain terms why it didn't fit.
c. Not clearly identified, located, or determined. Phr. of uncertain age.
1617Moryson Itin. i. 192 Which King Phillip Augustus began to build in..1257, the foundations being before laid by an uncertaine founder. 1631Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 518 The vncertaine buriall of Vortimer..was in some part of this Citie. 1638Guillim's Heraldry (ed. 3) i. vi. 41 According to that saying of an uncertaine Author. 1817Byron Beppo xxii, The years Which certain people call a ‘certain age’, Which yet the most uncertain age appears. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxv, A large and massive Keep, which formed the citadel of the Castle, was of uncertain though great antiquity. 1877F. H. Burnett Theo v. 137 The blandishments of a single gentleman of uncertain age. 1900A. S. Murray Catal. Sculpt. Parthen. in Brit. Mus. 77 No. 30 is a maiden holding an uncertain object, perhaps a footstool, on her left arm. 1930A. Christie Murder at Vicarage iv. 33 There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands. 1952J. Cannan Body in Beck vii. 152 The fair sex is very credulous, especially in the case of maiden ladies of uncertain age.
d. Not clearly defined or outlined.
1638Junius Paint. Ancients 89 The uncertaine shapes of clouds most commonly are likened unto anything our wandering minde conceiveth. 1833Tennyson Pal. Art 238 But in dark corners of her palace stood Uncertain shapes. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xlvii. (1856) 444 Every thing, in short, grew blurred and uncertain.
5. a. Not certain to remain in one state or condition; unsteady, variable, fitful.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. i. iii. 85 How this spring of loue resembleth The vncertaine glory of an Aprill day. c1600― Sonn. cxlvii, My loue is as a feauer,..Feeding on that which doth preserue the ill, Th' vncertaine sicklie appetite to please. 1694J. Smith Horolog. Disquisit. 87 To make the more certain Guess at what Weather will after ensue, especially if the Glass be at Changeable and Uncertain. 1738Gray Tasso 48 As when athwart the dusky woods by night The uncertain crescent gleams a sickly light. 1743Francis tr. Hor., Odes i. xiii. 6 On my cheek th' uncertain color dies. 1753J. Collier Art Torment. i. i, When the weather is quite uncertain. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxix, The moon gave a faint and uncertain light, for heavy vapours surrounded it. 1805Scott Last Minstr. Introd. 85 Amid the strings his fingers stray'd, And an uncertain warbling made. 1828Sir J. E. Smith Eng. Flora II. 109 It may be observed that our uncertain summer is established by the time the Elder is in full flower. 1866Howells Venetian Life ii, I could see by that uncertain glimmer how fair was all, but not how sad and old.
b. Of persons: Variable, fickle, changeable, capricious.
a1611Beaum. & Fl. Four Plays, Tri. Death ii, Uncertain as the Sea, Sir, Proud and deceitful as his sins Great Master. a1625Fletcher Double Marr. i. i, Thou art constant; I an uncertain fool, a most blind fool. 1664J. Wilson A. Commenius v. viii, The uncertain people, Constant to nothing but inconstancy. a1721Prior Ess. Opinion ⁋13 If You trace this Man thro life..You will find him always uncertain. 1808Scott Marm. vi. xxx, O, Woman! in our hours of ease, Uncertain, coy, and hard to please.
6. a. Of persons: Not fully confident or assured of something.
c1400Destr. Troy 2050 Now Priam..[was] Uncertain of his Sister for seyng hir euer. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark xiii. 83 b, These seruauntes, because they be vncertayne of theyr Lordes returnyng home, do styl endeuoyre them selues to do theyr office & duety. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 61 He..in the very heate And pride of their contention, did take horse, Vncertaine of the issue any way. 1631Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 579 He..being infected with the plague,..was landed about Portsmouth, and being vncertaine of any house, died vnder a hedge. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. iii. 110 Thir [sc. the Saxons'] multitude wander'd yet uncertain of habitation. 1718Prior Solomon iii. 290 What is a King?.. To blind Events, and fickle Chance a Slave: Seeking to settle what for ever flies; Sure of the Toil, uncertain of the Prize.
b. Const. how, what, whether, etc.: Having no clear knowledge; in a state of doubt.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 7 Whan he is vncerteyn whether he shall be iudged for euermore to ioye or to payne. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 444 b, And the people be lefte in this doutfull state of thinges, to be uncertaine howe pacientlye all menne woulde take it. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxii. §18 St. Augustine was not himselfe vncertaine what to thinke. 1697Dryden æneis iii. 9 Uncertain yet to find What place the gods for our repose assigned. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiv, As she advanced, terrified and uncertain what to do. 1796F. Burney Camilla vi. xiii, Camilla was still more agitated; for though uncertain if she were right or wrong in the appeal she meant to make [etc.]. 1851Thackeray Eng. Hum. vi. 302 He is always looking in my face, watching his effect, uncertain whether I think him an impostor or not. 1865Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) III. 253, I am uncertain how long he will be away.
c. Undecided; not directed to a definite end.
1382Wyclif 1 Sam. xxiii. 13 Dauid..and his men..hidir and thider weren vagaunt vncerteyn [L. incerti]. 1607Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 17 The People will remaine vncertaine, whil'st 'Twixt you there's difference. 1697Dryden æneis vii. 692 Ascanius young, and eager of his Game, Soon bent his Bow, uncertain in his Aim. 1808Scott Marm. iii. xx, The King Lord Gifford's castle sought, Deep labouring with uncertain thought. 1821― Kenilw. xxv, That anxious and uncertain gaze, which indicated a doubt whether her brain was settled. 1855Poultry Chron. III. 428/1 In their droning flight they move very irregularly, darting hither and thither, with an uncertain aim.
†7. into uncertain, at random. Obs.
1382Wyclif 1 Kings xxii. 34 A maner man bente a boowe, into vncerteyn [L. in incertum]. ― 2 Chron. xviii. 33 Oon of the puple in to vncerteyn kast an arowe.
8. quasi-adv. In an uncertain manner.
a1718Prior Cloe Hunting 4 She lost her Way, And thro' the Woods uncertain chanc'd to stray. 1784Cowper Task i. 358 The constant flail, That seems to swing uncertain, and yet falls Full on the destin'd ear.
▪ II. † unˈcertain, v. Obs. rare.
[f. prec.]
trans. To render uncertain.
1614Raleigh Hist. World i. i. §11. 14 It being manifest, that the diuersity of seasons, the Winters, and Sommers, more hot and cold, are not so vncertained by the Sunne and Moone alone. a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. i. xiii. §4 (1622) 145 It might greatly vncertaine the mindes of the people about it. |
