Etymologically
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definite

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈdɛfɪnɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˈdɛfɪnɪt/, /ˈdɛfənɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēfīnītus (“defined, bounded, limited, precise”), the past participle of dēfīniō (“to limit, determine, explain”),[2][3][4][5] from dē- (“completely”) and fīniō (“to bound, limit”), from fīnis (“boundary, end”),[3][6] the source also of define and finish.[3][7] The American Heritage Dictionary gives a Middle English form diffinite (“defined”).[7] The OED compares obsolete Middle French définit, recorded in 1504.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, something definite, especially a definite tense in grammar: 1530, in Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse.[2] As an adjective, having fixed limits, exact: 1553, in Thomas Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique.[2][4] Etymonline dates the adjective "fixed, certain, precise" to about 1500 and "having fixed limits" to the 1550s;[3] Dictionary.com gives 1520–30 and Collins the 15th century.[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Shakespeare applied the word to people, in Cymbeline (a1616): "Ideots, in this case of favour, would Be wisely definite".[2][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as certain, limited, bounded, and exact, precise, and recorded a noun meaning a thing explained or defined, which is now obsolete.[10][2] From 1728 grammarians called the article the definite (Etymonline: 1727),[2][3] and used definite for the inflections of adjectives that follow it in German and early English (1874).[2] Botany took it up for an inflorescence whose main axis ends in the first flower to open (1876) and for flower parts of fixed number (1839),[2] and philosophy for Bertrand Russell's definite descriptions (1911).[2]

Timeline

  • about 1500 – fixed, certain, precise, in Etymonline's dating.[3]
  • 1530 – noun, a definite tense.[2]
  • 1553 – having fixed limits; exact.[2][4]
  • a1616 – of a person, decided in opinion.[2]
  • 1728 – (grammar) the definite article.[2]
  • 1839 – (botany) of flower parts, of fixed number.[2]
  • 1876 – (botany) of an inflorescence, ending in a flower.[2]
  • 1911 – (philosophy) a definite description.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Clearly defined, exact and free of doubt: We need a definite answer by Friday.
  2. Having fixed or precise limits: a definite period.
  3. Known for certain; sure, or (of a person) sure and firm in opinion.
  4. Clear and unmistakable: a definite improvement.
  5. (grammar) Of an article or other word, pointing out a particular, known individual, as the does in English.
  6. (botany) Of growth or an inflorescence, with the main stem ending in a flower; of flower parts, fixed in number.

Noun

  1. (grammar) A definite verb form or a noun denoting a definite thing.

Word family

  • definitely
  • definiteness
  • definitize
  • definitude
  • nondefinite
  • semidefinite
  • undefinite
  • definite article

Usage notes

Etymonline distinguishes definite, clear and precise, from definitive, having the character of finality, and Dictionary.com also treats the pair as easily confused.[3][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.