déterminant

Forms

déterminant (feminine déterminante, masculine plural déterminants, feminine plural déterminantes)^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective and a noun, it is the present participle from French déterminer.^[2][3][4] The verb is borrowed from Latin dēterminō (“to mark limits, fix”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first found before 1662 in Pascal, meaning “that determines, that brings about a decision”.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

As a noun the participle became a term of several sciences: in grammar from 1847 (Benloew), for a part of speech that defines the sense of another,^[5][4] in mathematics from 1864 (Littré),^[5][4] and in biology, for the particles that carry hereditary characters in Weismann's theory.^[5] Littré also used it in 1877 for an element added to a root.^[3][6] In 20th-century linguistics it became the name of the class of words placed before a noun that mark its gender and number, such as the articles and the possessive and demonstrative adjectives.^[6][3]

Timeline

• before 1662 – Pascal uses the adjective.^[2][3]
• 1847 – First use as a noun in grammar.^[5][4]
• 1864 – Littré records the mathematical noun.^[5][4]
• 1877 – Littré uses it for an element added to a root.^[3][6]
• 20th century – The linguistic sense “determiner”.^[6][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of a cause) that determines or serves to determine; characteristic: un facteur déterminant.^[6][5]
2. That decides a thing or an action; decisive: son aide a été déterminante.^[6][1]

Noun

1. (grammar) A word that determines another, the déterminé.^[6][5][7]
2. (linguistics) A determiner: an article, possessive, demonstrative, indefinite or numeral adjective placed before a noun.^[6][7][3]
3. (mathematics) The determinant of a square matrix.^[5][1]
4. (biology) In Weismann's theory of heredity, a particle or gene that carries a hereditary character.^[5][1]
5. (logic) A fact that determines another.^[3]

Related words

• déterminer
• détermination
• déterminatif
• déterminé
• Latin dēterminō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)