Noah Webster
Uncertainty
UNCER'TAINTY, noun
1. doubtfulness; dubiousness. The truth is not ascertained; the latest accounts have not removed the uncertainty
2. Want of certainty; want of precision; as the uncertainty of the signification of words.
3. Contingency.
Steadfastly grasping the greatest and most slippery uncertainties.
4. Something unknown.
Our shepherd's case is every man's case that quits a certainty for an uncertainty