ascertain

English

WOTD – 19 January 2013    

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /æsəˈteɪn/, X-SAMPA: /{s@"teIn/
• (US) enPR: ăs-ər-tānʹ, IPA: /æsɚˈteɪn/, X-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.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, The Tremarn Case^[1]:

     “There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”

   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

• Armenian: հավաստիանալ (hy) (havastianal), համոզվել (hy) (hamozvel), պարզել (hy) (parzel), հաստատել (hy) (hastatel)
• Bulgarian: установявам (bg) (ustanovjavam), убеждавам се (bg) (ubeždavam se)
• Catalan: trobar (ca), encertar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 确定 (cmn), 確定 (cmn) (quèdìng)

• Czech: zjistit (cs)
• Dutch: constateren (nl), vaststellen (nl)
• Finnish: saada selville (fi), varmistaa (fi), selvittää (fi)
• French: constater (fr), définir (fr)
• German: feststellen (de)
• Hebrew: וידא (he) (vidé)
• Hungarian: megbizonyosodik (hu)
• Icelandic: ganga úr skugga um (is), fá fullvissu um (is), komast eftir (is), komast að (is)

• Italian: accertare (it)
• Japanese: 確かめる (ja) (たしかめる, tashikameru)
• Korean: 명백히하다 (ko) (myeongbaeghihada)
• Latin: scisco (la)
• Macedonian: утврдува (mk) (utv'rduva), востановува (mk) (vostanóvuva), установува (mk) (ustanóvuva)
• Maori: rapu (mi)
• Norwegian: fastslå (no)
• Portuguese: descobrir (pt), encontrar (pt)
• Russian: удостоверяться (ru) (udostoverjátʹsja) impf., удостовериться (ru) (udostovéritʹsja) pf., убеждаться (ru) (ubeždátʹsja) impf., убедиться (ru) (ubedítʹsja) pf., устанавливать (ru) (ustanávlivatʹ) impf., установить (ru) (ustanovítʹ) pf.
• Spanish: averiguar (es), determinar (es), establecer (es)

Anagrams

• Cartesian, cartesian, craniates, intracase, sectarian