determino

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [deːˈtɛr.mɪ.noː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [deˈtɛr.mi.no]^[1]

Forms

dēterminō (present infinitive dētermināre, perfect active dētermināvī, supine dēterminātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from dē- and terminō “to bound”, from terminus “boundary”.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short's and Gaffiot's earliest example is from Plautus, of marking out regions.^[5][6] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to mark out boundaries, delimit, as Plautus' regions and Livy's augural quarters, in Pliny the Elder to fix the extent of a place, and in Cicero to fix limits in time.^[2][5][6] In Seneca it meant to confine within limits and to lay down in fixed terms, define, and in Pliny to designate.^[2] In Tacitus it meant in rhetoric to conclude a period.^[2] Lewis and Short call it rare but classical.^[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to determine, limit, bound, fix, settle.^[8] It survives in Italian determinare and French déterminer, and Old French determiner gave English determine in the late 14th century, “to settle, decide”, dēterminātiō gave English determination.^[1][4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of marking out regions.^[5][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of limits in time.^[2][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of boundaries.^[2][7]
• late 14th century – English determine is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mark out the boundaries of; to fix the extent or limits of.^[2]
2. To confine.^[2]
3. To designate.^[2]
4. To define.^[2]
5. (rhetoric) To conclude (a period).^[2]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To determine, settle.^[8]

Word family

• dēterminābilis
• dēterminātiō
• determinator
• indēterminātus

Related words

• terminus
• terminō
• English determine
• English determination

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson