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definition

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌdef.ɪˈnɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English diffinicioun, definicion,[2][3] borrowed from Old French definicion, or directly from Latin definitionem (“a bounding; a limiting, prescribing; a definition, explanation”),[2][4] the last sense mostly in Cicero,[2] a noun of action from dēfīnīre “to set bounds to, determine, explain”,[2][4][3] from de- “completely” and finire “to bound, limit”, from finis “boundary, end”.[2] It is related to define, finish and finite.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The determining of a question at issue, a decision: 1382 in the OED.[5] Etymonline gives the late 14th century for decision, the setting of boundaries and the statement of the meaning of a word.[2]

Semantic evolution

The setting of limits, a restriction, is from about 1386, now obsolete.[5] A precise statement of the essential nature of a thing is from 1398,[5] and of the meaning of a word or phrase from perhaps before 1500.[5] In logic, the act of stating what something means is from the 1640s,[2] 1645 in the OED.[5] The action of making definite, distinctness, is from 1859,[5] and the distinctness of detail in a photograph or television picture from 1889.[2][5]

Timeline

  • 1382 – a decision.[5]
  • c. 1386 – a limitation.[5]
  • 1398 – a statement of a thing's nature.[5]
  • c. 1500 – the meaning of a word.[5]
  • 1645 – in logic.[5]
  • 1889 – the sharpness of a picture.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A statement of the meaning of a word or phrase, as in a dictionary.
  2. A statement of the essential nature of something.
  3. The act of defining.
  4. Clearness of outline or detail, as of an image or sound.
  5. by definition: by its very nature.

Word family

  • definitional
  • definitionally
  • redefinition
  • high-definition
  • define
  • definiendum
  • definiens
  • definite
  • definitive
  • finish
  • finite

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 h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press