decide

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈsaɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deciden,^[2][3] borrowed from Middle French decider,^[3][4] and directly from Latin dēcīdere (“to determine; literally, to cut off”),^[4][2][5] from dē- (“off”) and caedere (“to cut”),^[4][2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *kae-id- (“to strike”).^[4] Middle English also had decisen, from the Latin past participle dēcīsus, but deciden displaced it.^[2] The idea is of resolving difficulties at a stroke.^[4] Latin caedere is also behind concise, excise, precise, scissors and suicide.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To settle a dispute or question: about 1380 in the OED,^[7] the late 14th century in Etymonline,^[4] and before 1393 in Gower's Confessio Amantis in Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first used of determining questions, controversies and lawsuits.^[7][4] “To bring a person to a decision” is from 1710,^[7] and the intransitive “to pronounce a final judgement” from 1732.^[7] “To make up one's mind” is from 1830.^[4][7] The literal Latin sense “to cut off” was tried in 1579 but did not last.^[7] Decided and decidedly are from 1790.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – to settle a question.^[7]
• 1579 – to cut off (obsolete).^[7]
• 1710 – to bring someone to a decision.^[7]
• 1732 – to give judgement.^[7]
• 1790 – decided, decidedly.^[2]
• 1830 – to make up one's mind.^[4][7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make up one's mind; to choose after thinking.
2. To settle a question or dispute conclusively.
3. To determine the outcome of: the goal decided the match.
4. To give a verdict or judgement.

Word family

• decidability
• decidable
• decider
• predecide
• redecide

Related words

• decision
• decisive
• concise
• excise
• precise
• incision

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press