decide

See also: décide and décidé

English

Etymology

From Middle English deciden, from Old French decider, from Latin dēcīdere, infinitive of dēcīdō (“cut off, decide”), from dē (“down from”) + caedō (“cut”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsaɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) to resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle

   The election will be decided on foreign policies.

   We must decide our next move.

   Her last-minute goal decided the game.

   • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; / Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

2. (intransitive) to make a judgment, especially after deliberation

   You must decide between good and evil.

   I have decided that it is healthier to walk to work.

   • Bible, 1 Kings xx. 40

     So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

3. (transitive) to cause someone to come to a decision
   • 1920, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Three Gables" (Norton edition, 2005, page 1537),

     It decides me to look into the matter, for if it is worth anyone's while to take so much trouble, there must be something in it.

4. (obsolete) to cut off; to separate
   • (Can we date this quote by Fuller and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Our seat denies us traffic here; / The sea, too near, decides us from the rest.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• make up one's mind
• choose
• determine
• pick

Related terms

• decider
• decision
• decisive

 

Translations

to resolve or settle

• Afrikaans: besluit (af)
• Albanian: vendos (sq)
• Arabic: قَرَّرَ (qarrara), صَمَّمَ (ṣammama)
• Armenian: որոշել (hy) (orošel), վճռել (hy) (včṙel)
• Asturian: decidir
• Azerbaijani: qərar vermək
• Belarusian: раша́ць impf (rašácʹ), рашы́ць pf (rašýcʹ)
• Bengali: স্থির করা (sthir kora)
• Bulgarian: реша́вам (bg) impf (rešávam), реша́ (bg) pf (rešá), разреша́вам (bg) impf (razrešávam)
• Burmese: သန္နိဌာန်ချ (sanni.htanhkya.), ဆုံးဖြတ် (my) (hcum:hprat)
• Catalan: decidir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 解決／解决 (gaai² kyut³), 解决 (gaai² kyut³)

  Mandarin: 解決／解决 (zh) (jiějué), 解决 (zh) (jiějué)

  Min Dong: 解决 (gāi-giók)

• Czech: rozhodovat (cs) impf, rozhodnout (cs) pf
• Danish: afgøre, beslutte (da)
• Dutch: beslissen (nl), besluiten (nl)
• Esperanto: decidi
• Estonian: otsustama
• Faroese: gera av
• Finnish: ratkaista (fi)
• French: décider (fr)
• Galician: decidir
• Georgian: გადაწყვეტა (gadac̣q̇veṭa), გადაჭრა (gadač̣ra)
• German: entscheiden (de), beschließen (de)
• Greek: αποφασίζω (el) (apofasízo), κρίνω (el) (kríno)
• Hebrew: הכריע (hikhría)
• Hindi: निर्णय करना (nirṇay karnā), फ़ैसला करना (faislā karnā)
• Hungarian: dönt (hu), eldönt (hu)
• Icelandic: ákveða
• Ido: decidar (io), decidigar (io)
• Interlingua: decider (ia)
• Italian: decidere (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 解決する (ja) (かいけつする, kaiketsu suru), 決める (ja) (きめる, kimeru)
• Kazakh: шығару (şyğaru)
• Khmer: សម្រេចចិត្ត (sɑmrɨc cət), តាំងចិត្ត (taŋ cət)
• Korean: 해결하다 (ko) (haegyeor-hada), 정하다 (ko) (jeong-hada)
• Kyrgyz: чечүү (ky) (cecüü), чыгаруу (ky) (cıgaruu)
• Lao: ຕັດສິນໃຈ (tat sin chai)
• Latin: decido, statuo
• Latvian: lemt
• Lithuanian: nuspręsti
• Macedonian: одлучи (odluči)
• Malay: putus
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: beslutte (no)

• Persian: تصمیم گرفتن (fa) (tasmim gereftan)
• Polish: decydować (pl) impf, zdecydować (pl) pf, postanowić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: decidir (pt)
• Romanian: decide (ro)
• Russian: реша́ть (ru) impf (rešátʹ), реши́ть (ru) pf (rešítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir ro
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: одлу́чити

  Roman: odlúčiti (sh)

• Slovak: rozhodovať impf, rozhodnúť pf
• Slovene: odločiti
• Spanish: decidir (es), resolver (es)
• Swedish: besluta (sv), bestämma (sv)
• Tajik: тасмим гирифтан (tasmim giriftan‍)
• Thai: ตัดสินใจ (th) (dtàt sĭn jai), ตัดสิน (th) (dtàt sĭn)
• Turkish: karar vermek (tr)
• Turkmen: ýüregne düwmek, ýüregine düwmek
• Ukrainian: вирі́шувати impf (vyríšuvaty), ви́рішити pf (výrišyty)
• Urdu: فیصلہ کرنا (faislā karnā)
• Uzbek: qasd qilmoq
• Vietnamese: quyết định (vi)
• Yiddish: באַשליסן (bashlisn)

give judgement

• Arabic: قَرَّرَ (qarrara)
• Asturian: decidir
• Bulgarian: реша́вам (bg) (rešávam), разреша́вам (bg) (razrešávam)
• Catalan: decidir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: ^{(please verify)} 決定／决定 (kyut³ ding⁶), ^{(please verify)} 决定 (kyut³ ding⁶)

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 決定／决定 (zh) (juédìng), ^{(please verify)} 决定 (zh) (juédìng)

• Czech: rozhodnout (cs), rozhodnout (cs) se
• Danish: afgøre
• Faroese: gera av
• Finnish: päättää (fi), ratkaista (fi), valita (fi)
• French: décider (fr)
• Galician: decidir
• German: entscheiden (de), beschließen (de), festsetzen (de)
• Greek: αποφασίζω (el) (apofasízo)

  Ancient: βούλομαι (boúlomai)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: הכריע (hikhría)
• Hungarian: dönt (hu), döntést hoz (hu)
• Japanese: 決める (ja) (きめる, kimeru), 決する (けっする, kessuru)
• Latin: decido
• Latvian: lemt
• Persian: تصمیم گرفتن (fa) (tasmim gereftan)
• Polish: zdecydować (pl)
• Portuguese: decidir (pt)
• Romanian: decide (ro)
• Russian: реша́ть (ru) impf (rešátʹ), реши́ть (ru) pf (rešítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: suidhich air
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: одлу́чити

  Roman: odlúčiti (sh)

• Spanish: decidir (es)
• Swedish: avgöra (sv)
• Yiddish: באַשליסן (bashlisn)

to cause someone to come to a decision

• Czech: (uses dependent clause)
• Danish: få en person til at beslutte sig
• Finnish: ratkaista (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: statuo, decerno, constituo (la), edico, sancio
• Romanian: convinge (ro)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} decidi
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} החליט (he) (hekhlít)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 결정하다 (ko) (gyeoljeonghada), ^{(please verify)} ~기로 하다 (~giro hada), ^{(please verify)} 마음을 먹다 (ma'eumeul meokda), ^{(please verify)} 정하다 (ko) (jeonghada)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} decide (ro)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} decidir (es)
• (deprecated template usage) Telugu: ^{(please verify)} నిర్ణయించు (te) (nirṇayiñcu)

Anagrams

• de-iced, deiced

---

Asturian

Verb

(deprecated template usage) decide

1. third-person singular present indicative of decidir

---

Esperanto

Etymology

From decidi +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈt͡side/
• Rhymes: -ide

Adverb

decide

1. decisively
2. decidedly

---

Interlingua

Verb

decide

1. present of decider
2. imperative of decider

---

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ide

Verb

decide

1. third-person singular present indicative of decidere

Anagrams

• decedi

---

Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) dēcīde

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēcīdō

---

Middle English

Verb

decide

1. Alternative form of deciden

---

Portuguese

Verb

decide

1. Template:pt-verb-form-of

---

Romanian

Etymology

From French décider, from Latin dēcīdō.

Verb

a decide (third-person singular present decide, past participle decis) 3rd conj.

1. to decide

   Synonym: hotărî

Conjugation

    conjugation of decide (third conjugation, past participle in -s)

infinitive			a decide
gerund			decizând
past participle			decis
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	decid	decizi	decide	decidem	decideți	decid
	imperfect	decideam	decideai	decidea	decideam	decideați	decideau
	simple perfect	decisei	deciseși	decise	deciserăm	deciserăți	deciseră
	pluperfect	decisesem	deciseseși	decisese	deciseserăm	deciseserăți	deciseseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să decid	să decizi	să decidă	să decidem	să decideți	să decidă
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		decide			decideți
	negative		nu decide			nu decideți

Related terms

• decizie

---

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /deˈθide/ [d̪eˈθi.ð̞e]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /deˈside/ [d̪eˈsi.ð̞e]

Verb

decide

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of decidir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of decidir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of decidir.