determine

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /dɪˈtɜː.mɪn/, US /dɪˈtɝː.mɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English determinen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French determiner, 12th century,^[3][2] and directly from Latin dētermināre (“to enclose, bound, set limits to”),^[3][2] from dē- “off”, or “thoroughly”,^[3][4] and termināre (“to mark the end or boundary”), from terminus (“end, limit, boundary”).^[3][2][5] It is related to term, terminate and terminus.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To decide a case, render a verdict”: 1350–54 in Barnhart;^[2] “to settle, decide upon; to fix the bounds of; to come to a firm decision” in the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was used in all the senses of the Latin, “to set a limit to, fix”, as well as “to settle, conclude”.^[4] “To come to an end” is from about 1374, in Chaucer's Boece,^[6][2] and “to bring to an end” from 1483,^[6] senses now chiefly legal.^[7] “To set bounds to” is from 1398.^[6] “To render judgement” and “to give direction or tendency to” are from the early 15th century,^[3] and “to find out, as the solution of a problem” from the 1640s.^[3] Determination is from 1350–54.^[2]

Timeline

• 1350 – to decide a case.^[2]
• c. 1374 – to come to an end.^[6][2]
• 1398 – to set bounds to.^[6]
• early 15th century – to give direction to.^[3]
• 1640s – to find out.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To settle a dispute or question conclusively, with authority.
2. To find out or establish exactly, as by investigation or calculation.
3. To cause someone to reach a decision; to resolve.
4. To be the cause of; to fix or regulate: supply determines price.
5. To limit in scope; to set bounds to.
6. (law) To come to an end.

Word family

• determinable
• determinant
• determination
• determinative
• determiner
• determinism
• predetermine
• redetermine

Related words

• determined
• term
• terminate
• terminus

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press