certamen

From Latin certāmen (“contest”).

• (faithful to Latin original) IPA^(key):
• (Anglicised) IPA^(key):

certamen (uncountable)

1. A team competition in which contestants answer questions about classical history, culture, and mythology, and the Latin language.
   • 1983 August 12, Susan Chira, Special To the New York Times, “A Roman Holiday Upstate”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     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.

   • 1988 February 21, Tessa Melvin, “A Latin revival takes the stage at John Jay High School”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     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.

• Arcement

Borrowed from Latin certāmen (“contest”).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

certamen m (plural certàmens)

1. contest, competition

• “certamen” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “certamen”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “certamen” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “certamen” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From certō (“struggle, contend”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /kerˈtaː.men/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃerˈta.men/,

certāmen n (genitive certāminis); third declension

1. A contest, race, struggle, strife.
2. A battle, engagement, combat.

   Synonyms: certatus, duellum, rixa, bellum

   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, I Timotheum 6:12, page 1836:

     certa bonum certamen

     fight the good fight

3. An object contended for, prize.

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

• certāmen equōrum (“horse race”)

• → Catalan: certamen
• → English: certamen
• → Italian: certame
• → Portuguese: certame
• → Spanish: certamen

• “certamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “certamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "certamen", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• certamen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • gymnastic contests: certamina gymnica
    
  • party-strife: certamen partium
    
  • to engage in the fight: in certamen descendere
    
  • single combat: certamen singulare
    
  • to challenge some one to single combat: povocare aliquem ad certamen singulare
    

Borrowed from Latin certāmen.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /θeɾˈtamen/
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /seɾˈtamen/
• Rhymes: -amen
• Syllabification: cer‧ta‧men

certamen m (plural certámenes)

1. contest, competition, pageant

   Synonym: concurso

   certamen literario ― literary contest

   • 2021 July 15, Raquel Piñeiro, “Amparo Muñoz, el infierno televisado”, in El País‎:

     Jane Fonda y Angela Davis recibieron la llamada del novio de Miss Universo, que les contó que la joven reina de belleza estaba siendo explotada por la organización del certamen y vivía en espantosas condiciones.

     Jane Fonda and Angela Davis received a phone call from the boyfriend of Miss Universe, who told them that the young beauty queen was being exploited by the organization of the pageant and lived in horrible conditions.

2. challenge

   Synonyms: desafío, reto

• “certamen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10