ascertain

English

Etymology

From Old French acertener, from (a- (“to, towards”) + certener (“make sure of”), from the adjective certain.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /æsəˈteɪn/, SAMPA: /{s@"teIn/
• (US) enPR: ăs-ər-tānʹ, IPA: /æsɚˈteɪn/, SAMPA: /{s@`"teIn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Verb

ascertain (third-person singular simple present ascertains, present participle ascertaining, simple past and past participle ascertained)

1. To find out definitely; to discover or establish.

   As soon as we ascertain what the situation is, we can plan how to proceed.

Usage notes

• Ascertain is a formal-sounding word. In informal contexts, it can sound pretentious and is best replaced with a more informal synonym.

Synonyms

• determine
• discover
• establish
• find out
• learn
• work out

Translations

find out; discover or establish

Bulgarian: установявам (bg), убеждавам се (bg) Catalan: trobar (ca), encertar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 确定 (zh), 確定 (zh) (quèdìng) Czech: zjistit (cs) Dutch: constateren (nl), vaststellen (nl) Hebrew: וידא (he) (vidé) Icelandic: ganga úr skugga um (is), fá fullvissu um (is), komast eftir (is), komast að (is)

Japanese: 確かめる (ja) (tashikameru) Korean: 명백히하다 (ko) (myeongbaeghihada) Latin: scisco (la) Macedonian: утврдува (mk) (utv'rduva), востановува (mk) (vostanóvuva), установува (mk) (ustanóvuva) Portuguese: descobrir (pt), encontrar (pt) Spanish: averiguar (es), determinar (es), establecer (es)

Anagrams

• Cartesian, cartesian, intracase, sectarian