Etymologically
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decisive

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈsaɪsɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French decisif (“definitive, conclusive”), recorded from 1413, and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin dēcīsīvus, found in British and continental sources from the 13th century.[2][3][4][5] The Latin adjective is formed on dēcīsus, the past participle of dēcīdō (“to cut off; to decide”), the verb behind decide.[5][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Settling a dispute or contest conclusively: 1584, in Richard Cosin's Answer to the Two First and Principal Treatises.[2][7] Etymonline gives the 1610s, Dictionary.com 1605–15 and the Shorter Oxford the early 17th century.[5][8][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense describes things that decide: a battle, an argument or a piece of evidence that ends a question.[2][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "having the power of determining any difference" and "conclusive".[10] The sense describing people, resolute and able to make up one's mind, is found in English from 1658, in a translation from French, where décisif had this meaning by 1652;[2] Etymonline dates "marked by prompt determination" to 1736.[5] From 1800 the word could also mean distinct or unmistakable, like decided.[2][7] As a noun, decisive was something that brings about a decision (1675), now mostly the deciding run in baseball.[2]

Timeline

  • 1584 – conclusive, settling a question.[2][7]
  • 1658 – of a person, resolute.[2]
  • 1675 – the noun, something that decides.[2]
  • 1736 – marked by prompt determination, in Etymonline's dating.[5]
  • 1800 – unmistakable, marked.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Settling an issue or conflict; conclusive: the decisive goal came in extra time.
  2. Able to make decisions quickly and firmly; resolute.
  3. Beyond doubt; unmistakable: a decisive lead in the polls.

Word family

  • decisively
  • decisiveness
  • nondecisive

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.