Etymologically
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determine

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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

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