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determination

Etymology and origin of the English word determination

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1395
Borrowed from
Old French determinacion
Ultimate origin
Latin (determino)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English determinacioun, borrowed from Old French determinacion (“determination, settlement, definition”) and directly Medieval Latin determinatio (“a settlement”), from Latin determinatio, a boundary, end,[2][3][4] from dētermināre (“to enclose, bound, set limits to”) (see determine).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A decision or sentence in a lawsuit, an authoritative judicial settlement: 1395 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The settling of a question by reasoning is from about 1400, and the defence of a thesis in a scholastic disputation from 1408.[6] An ending or termination is from 1483, surviving in law for the end of an estate (1495).[6] A conclusion or result ascertained is from the 1560s, and the action of definitely ascertaining from the 1670s.[2] A fixed direction towards a goal is from the 1650s, in physics or anatomy;[2] metaphorically, fixation of the will, mental resolution, is from the 1680s, and firmness of purpose as a character trait by 1822.[2]

Timeline

  • 1395 – a judicial decision.[6]
  • 1483 – an ending.[6]
  • 1560s – a conclusion.[2]
  • 1680s – mental resolution.[2]
  • 1822 – resoluteness of character.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Firmness of purpose; resolve.
  2. The process of establishing something exactly by calculation or research.
  3. (law) The settlement of a dispute by a court's decision.
  4. (law) The ending of an estate or interest.

Word family

  • nondetermination
  • codetermination
  • indetermination
  • overdetermination
  • predetermination
  • redetermination
  • self-determination

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Determination.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/determination. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·