Also 5–8 -at, 5 cert-, sertyfycate. [a. F. certificat, or ad. med.L. certificātum thing certified, a subst. use of pa. pple. of certificāre to CERTIFY. In sense 1 it appears to answer to a L. sb. in -ātus (4th decl.)]
† 1. The action or fact of certifying or giving assurance; certification. Obs.
c. 1480. St. Ursula (Roxb.), A j. Wastynge the church with force and cruelte So sayeth the cronycles for our certyfycate.
1555. Eden, Decades W. Ind. (Arb.), 259. For the better certificat therof be consyderd the stations of the moone.
† 2. The action whereby a responsible person or persons attest a fact within their knowledge; certification, attestation. Obs.
1472. Marg. Paston, Lett., 705, III. 63. Send for the shereffes debute to wete how thei be disposid for certificate of the knyghtes.
1495. Act 11 Hen. VII., c. 10 § 1. Upon certificat of the delyvere of the seid Writtes.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 95 a. Before they make certificat home to their cities.
1563. Homilies, II. Repentance, I. (1859), 534. For a certificate, and assurance thereof.
1661. J. Stephens, Procurations, 30. Since the Certificate of their value into the Exchequer about the 26 of H. 8.
3. A document wherein a fact is formally certified or attested.
[1447. in Paston Lett., I. 64. Comme il apparest par le certificat a eulx par nous donné.]
1489–90. Plumpton Corr., 91. Send up the sayd wrytts with his sertyfycat.
1592. Greene, Art Conny-catch., II. 5. Who buyeth a horse without this certificat or proofe, shalbe within the nature of fellony.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 182. Six men brought a certificate that they had lived an hundred yeares apiece.
1642. Two Ord. Lords & Comm., 3 Dec., 3. A true and exact Certificate … of the quantity of Gunpowder.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 9. To get Passes and Certificates of Health … for, without these, there was no being admitted to pass thro’ the Towns.
1763. Brit. Mag., IV. 174/2. No cyder and perry, exceeding six gallons, shall be removed, &c., without a certificate.
1790. J. Huntingford (title), The Forging and counterfeiting of Certificates of Servants’ Characters.
1824. Scott, St. Ronan’s, xxv. My father’s contract of marriage, my own certificate of baptism.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, s.v., A certificate of origin is a Custom-House document, testifying to particular articles being the growth of a British colony.
1887. Whitaker’s Almanack, 368. A certificate of birth, marriage, or death costs one penny.
b. esp. A document certifying the status or acquirements of the bearer, or his fulfilment of conditions which authorize him to act or practise in a specified way; hence, often equal to licence.
1549. Compl. Scot., xi. 95. Nane of them sal cum vitht in the mane cuntre of ingland vitht out ane certificat fra the sc[h]eref.
1593. Nashe, Foure Lett. Confut., 19. A Certificate (such as rogues haue) from the head men of the Parish.
1615. trans. De Monfart’s Surv. E. Indies, 8. [He] must bring back a good certificat from the Captaine of the Carauan.
1816. Trial Berkeley Poachers, 29. Allen makes no secret of his shooting; he takes out a certificate.
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lxiv. (Hoppe). I am now admitted … on the roll of attornies, and have taken out my certificate.
1863. Illust. Lond. News, 21 Nov., 515/2 (Hoppe). The suspension of Captain Stone’s certificate for six months.
1874. Sat. Rev., 18 April, 499/1 (Hoppe). The vessel was licensed to carry only twenty passengers; but it seems that the restrictions of the certificate did not apply to trade between Mediterranean ports.
c. In a more general sense: Anything that has the force or effect of the preceding; a certification.
1718. Free-thinker, No. 76. 146. Admit no Opinions but such as come recommended with proper Certificates.
1856. Emerson, Eng. Traits, Wealth, Wks. (Bohn), II. 68. The Englishman has pure pride in his wealth, and esteems it a final certificate.
1875. Jevons, Money (1878), 191. Bills of exchange, which are signs or certificates of debt.
d. Bankrupt’s certificate: (see quot. 1858).
1707. Lond. Gaz., No. 4341/4. His Certificate will be confirmed as the Act directs.
1853. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, s.v., A bankrupt’s certificate is the legal document issued by the Commissioner of the Bankruptcy Court, certifying that he has surrendered his estate, passed the examinations and forms required, and … is permitted to recommence his trading operations.
4. Law. A writing made in one court, by which notice of its proceedings is given to another, usually by way of transcript. Trial by certificate: a form of trial in which the testimony of facts as certified by another court, or by any proper authority, decides the point at issue.
1607–72. Cowell, Interpr., A Certificate of the Cause of Attaint is a transcript made briefly, and in few words, by the Clerk of the Crown, [etc.] to the Court of the King’s Bench, containing the tenor and effect of every Indictment.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 333. When the issue is whether a person was absent in the army, this is tried by the certificate of the proper officer, in writing, under his seal.
1818. Cruise, Digest, II. 300. The Judges certified that Mr. Bromfield took a vested estate in fee simple…. The Master of the Rolls decreed in conformity to this certificate.
5. attrib., as in certificate goods (see 3, quot. 1858).
1710. Lond. Gaz., No. 4674. An Act … for better preventing Frauds in Drawbacks upon Certificate Goods.
1710. Act 8 Anne, in Lond. Gaz., No. 4701/2. Persons, who … cause … to be re-landed such Tobacco, and other Certificate-Goods.
