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define

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈfaɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English diffynen, definen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman definer, borrowed from Old French definir, earlier diffinir “to end, determine”, and directly borrowed from Latin dēfīnīre (“to limit, determine, explain”),[2][3][4] from dē- (“completely”) and fīnīre (“to bound, limit”) (see finish), from fīnis (“boundary, end”).[2][3][5] The Old French definer comes from a Romance variant of the Latin verb.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1380, to specify, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius, and in the House of Fame to end;[2] the OED has the intransitive sense of determining or deciding from about 1374 and to bring to an end from about 1384, both obsolete.[8]

Semantic evolution

Of words and phrases, to state what is meant, to describe exactly, is late 14th century in Etymonline.[3] To determine or mark the limits of a thing is from about 1400,[3][8] to set bounds to or restrict from 1513,[8] and to fix or decide something definitely from 1535.[8] To make clear in outline or form, as a shape against the light, is from 1815.[8] The old sense of bringing a controversy to an end lasted into the late 17th century.[7] Definition is about 1384, a decision, in the Wycliffe Bible,[2] and definite is before 1500.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – to determine, decide.[8]
  • c. 1380 – to specify, in Chaucer.[2]
  • c. 1384 – to bring to an end.[8]
  • c. 1400 – to mark the limits of.[3][8]
  • 1535 – to fix definitely.[8]
  • 1815 – to make definite in outline.[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To state the exact meaning of a word or phrase.
  2. To describe the nature or essential qualities of something.
  3. To fix or mark the boundary or extent of.
  4. To show clearly the outline or form of.
  5. To be the distinguishing feature of; to characterize.

Word family

  • definability
  • definable
  • definably
  • definement
  • definer
  • misdefine
  • predefine
  • redefine

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press