certamen
[kɛɹˈtɑːmɛn]
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A team competition in which contestants answer questions about classical history, culture, and mythology, and the Latin language.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "It was the semifinal round of Certamen, Latin for contest, the Junior Classical League's answer to “It's Academic.” Two teams of four-each sat across from a judge, and pressed buzzers that lighted up a bulb showing which team responded first."
- "There's the “certamen” or contest, similar, Mrs. Nicholls said, to a television quiz show. Students compete against other schools in mythology, history and trivia. Anyone can enter - all they have to know is some Latin."
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin certō Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Italic *-mn̥ Latin -men Latin certāmenbor. English certamen Borrowed from Latin certāmen (“contest”). Ultimately from Latin certus (“certain, fixed, settled, firm”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: certus