ABSTRACT

The Danish word Vished (“certainty”) derives from the Old Danish vishiet, weshedh, and from the Middle Low German wisheit, and has the meaning of security, assurance. In Danish the word for “certainty” has maintained this original sense, although within the context of a wider pattern of usage. The Danish term for “certainty” can be used as a synonym for truth, correctness; and it can designate the fact that something is certain or true. Furthermore, the noun “certainty” can be employed to identify the situation or attitude of someone who steadfastly and incontrovertibly holds something to be true, someone who has a conviction that something is certain. In Danish “certainty” can also be used to signify that which serves as proof, documentation, or guarantee.1