certificate

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A document serving as evidence that a person has completed an educational course, issued either by an institution not authorised to grant diplomas.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

sertifihkuht

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

sɚˈtɪfɪkət

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

education
A document serving as evidence that a person has completed an educational course, issued either by an institution not authorised to grant diplomas, or to a student not qualifying for a diploma.
A document containing a certified statement.
A document evidencing ownership or debt.
britishireland
A motion picture age rating.

verb

Authorize by certificate
To supply with a certificate, especially following certification.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary
Frequency: Very Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (education) A document serving as evidence that a person has completed an educational course, issued either by an institution not authorised to grant diplomas, or to a student not qualifying for a diploma.

Used this way, certificate is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in education or classroom contexts.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

Education/classroom

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use certificate

“He received a certificate for completing the photography course.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

birth certificatedeath certificateschool certificateleaving certificateoriginal certificatetransfer certificatenew certificateregistration certificate

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

certificate of depositnounCompound term
A debt instrument issued by a bank.
certificate of indebtednessnounCompound term
A written promise to repay a debt.
bond certificatenounCompound term
A certificate of debt (usually interest-bearing or discounted) that is issued by a government or corporation in order to raise money.
face-amount certificate companynounCompound term
A regulated investment company that pays a stated amount to certificate holders on a stated maturity date.
general certificate of secondary educationnounCompound term
The basic level of a subject taken in school.
partnership certificatenounCompound term
A certificate showing the interests of all parties in a business partnership.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.