definir

See also: définir

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin dēfīnīre (“to bound, limit”).

Verb

definir (first-person singular indicative present defino, past participle definíu)

1. to define

Conjugation

Conjugation of definir

infinitive		definir
gerundive		definiendo
participle		m definíu, f definida, n definío, m pl definíos, f pl definíes
person		first singular yo	second singular tu	third singular él/elli	first plural nosotros/nós	second plural vosotros/vós	third plural ellos
indicative	present	defino	defines	define	definimos	definís	definen
	imperfect	definía	definíes	definía	definíemos/definíamos	definíeis/definíais	definíen
	preterite	definí	definiesti/definisti	definió	definiemos/definimos	definiestis/definistis	definieron
	pluperfect	definiere/definiera	definieres/definieras	definiere/definiera	definiéremos/definiéramos	definiereis/definierais	definieren/definieran
	future	definiré	definirás	definirá	definiremos	definiréis	definirán
	conditional	definiría	definiríes	definiría	definiríemos/definiríamos	definiríeis/definiríais	definiríen
subjunctive	present	defina	definas	defina	definamos	defináis	definan
	imperfect	definiere/definiera	definieres/definieras	definiere/definiera	definiéremos/definiéramos	definiereis/definierais	definieren/definieran
imperative			defini			definíi

Related terms

• definición

Further reading

• “definir”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN
• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “definir”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin dēfīnīre (“to bound, limit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [də.fiˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [de.fiˈniɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

definir (first-person singular present defineixo, first-person singular preterite definí, past participle definit)

1. to define

Conjugation

    Conjugation of definir (third conjugation, with -eix-)

infinitive			definir
gerund			definint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		definit		definida
		plural		definits		definides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	defineixo	defineixes	defineix	definim	definiu	defineixen
	imperfect	definia	definies	definia	definíem	definíeu	definien
	future	definiré	definiràs	definirà	definirem	definireu	definiran
	preterite	definí	definires	definí	definírem	definíreu	definiren
	conditional	definiria	definiries	definiria	definiríem	definiríeu	definirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	defineixi	defineixis	defineixi	definim	definiu	defineixin
	imperfect	definís	definissis	definís	definíssim	definíssiu	definissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	defineix	defineixi	definim	definiu	defineixin
	negative (no)	—	no defineixis	no defineixi	no definim	no definiu	no defineixin

Related terms

• definició
• definit
• definitiu

Further reading

• “definir”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Etymology

From Latin dēfīnīre (“to bound, limit”).

Verb

definir (first-person singular present defino, first-person singular preterite definín, past participle definido)
definir (first-person singular present defino, first-person singular preterite definim or defini, past participle definido, reintegrationist norm)

1. to define

Conjugation

    Conjugation of definir

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	definir
Personal	definir	definires	definir	definirmos	definirdes	definiren
Gerund
	definindo
Past participle
Masculine	definido			definidos
Feminine	definida			definidas
Indicative
Present	defino	defines	define	definimos	definides	definen
Imperfect	definía	definías	definía	definiamos	definiades	definían
Preterite	definín	definiches	definiu	definimos	definistes	definiron
Pluperfect	definira	definiras	definira	definiramos	definirades	definiran
Future	definirei	definirás	definirá	definiremos	definiredes	definirán
Conditional	definiría	definirías	definiría	definiriamos	definiriades	definirían
Subjunctive
Present	defina	definas	defina	definamos	definades	definan
Imperfect	definise	definises	definise	definísemos	definísedes	definisen
Future	definir	definires	definir	definirmos	definirdes	definiren
Imperative
Affirmative		define	defina	definamos	definide	definan
Negative (non)		non definas	non defina	non definamos	non definades	non definan

    Reintegrated conjugation of definir (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	definir
Personal	definir	definires	definir	definirmos	definirdes	definirem
Gerund
	definindo
Past participle
Masculine	definido			definidos
Feminine	definida			definidas
Indicative
Present	defino	defines	define	definimos	definides, definis	definem
Imperfect	definia	definias	definia	definíamos	definíades, definíeis, definíais1	definiam
Preterite	definim, defini	definiste, definiche1	definiu	definimos	definistes	definírom, definiram
Pluperfect	definira	definiras	definira	definíramos	definírades, definíreis, definírais1	definiram
Future	definirei	definirás	definirá	definiremos	definiredes, definireis	definirám, definirão
Conditional	definiria	definirias	definiria	definiríamos	definiríades, definiríeis, definiríais1	definiriam
Subjunctive
Present	defina	definas	defina	definamos	definades, definais	definam
Imperfect	definisse	definisses	definisse	definíssemos	definíssedes, definísseis	definissem
Future	definir	definires	definir	definirmos	definirdes	definirem
Imperative
Affirmative		define	defina	definamos	definide, defini	definam
Negative (nom)		nom definas	nom defina	nom definamos	nom definades, nom definais	nom definam

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• definición
• definido
• definitivo

Further reading

• “definir”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “definir”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025

Interlingua

Verb

definir

1. to define

Conjugation

    Conjugation of definir

infinitive		definir
participle		present	perfect
		definiente	definite
active		simple	perfect
	present	defini	ha definite
	past	definiva	habeva definite
	future	definira	habera definite
	conditional	definirea	haberea definite
	imperative	defini	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es definite	ha essite definite
	past	esseva definite	habeva essite definite
	future	essera definite	habera essite definite
	conditional	esserea definite	haberea essite definite
	imperative	sia definite	—

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēfīnīre (“to bound, to limit”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.fiˈni(ʁ)/ [de.fiˈni(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.fiˈni(ʁ)/ [de.fiˈni(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /de.fiˈni(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /de.fiˈni(ʁ)/ [de.fiˈni(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.fiˈni(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.fiˈniɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.fiˈniɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.fiˈni.ɾi/

Verb

definir (first-person singular present defino, first-person singular preterite defini, past participle definido)

1. to define

Conjugation

    Conjugation of definir (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	definir
Personal	definir	definires	definir	definirmos	definirdes	definirem
Gerund
	definindo
Past participle
Masculine	definido			definidos
Feminine	definida			definidas
Indicative
Present	defino	defines	define	definimos	definis	definem
Imperfect	definia	definias	definia	definíamos	definíeis	definiam
Preterite	defini	definiste	definiu	definimos	definistes	definiram
Pluperfect	definira	definiras	definira	definíramos	definíreis	definiram
Future	definirei	definirás	definirá	definiremos	definireis	definirão
Conditional	definiria	definirias	definiria	definiríamos	definiríeis	definiriam
Subjunctive
Present	defina	definas	defina	definamos	definais	definam
Imperfect	definisse	definisses	definisse	definíssemos	definísseis	definissem
Future	definir	definires	definir	definirmos	definirdes	definirem
Imperative
Affirmative		define	defina	definamos	defini	definam
Negative (não)		não definas	não defina	não definamos	não definais	não definam

Related terms

• definição
• definido
• definitivo

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin dēfīnīre (“to bound, limit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /defiˈniɾ/ [d̪e.fiˈniɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: de‧fi‧nir

Verb

definir (first-person singular present defino, first-person singular preterite definí, past participle definido)

1. (transitive) to define

Conjugation

    Conjugation of definir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			definir
gerund			definiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		definido		definida
		plural		definidos		definidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	defino	definestú definísvos	define	definimos	definís	definen
	imperfect	definía	definías	definía	definíamos	definíais	definían
	preterite	definí	definiste	definió	definimos	definisteis	definieron
	future	definiré	definirás	definirá	definiremos	definiréis	definirán
	conditional	definiría	definirías	definiría	definiríamos	definiríais	definirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	defina	definastú definásvos2	defina	definamos	defináis	definan
	imperfect (ra)	definiera	definieras	definiera	definiéramos	definierais	definieran
	imperfect (se)	definiese	definieses	definiese	definiésemos	definieseis	definiesen
	future1	definiere	definieres	definiere	definiéremos	definiereis	definieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		definetú definívos	defina	definamos	definid	definan
	negative		no definas	no defina	no definamos	no defináis	no definan

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of definir

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive definir	dative	definirme	definirte	definirle, definirse	definirnos	definiros	definirles, definirse
	accusative	definirme	definirte	definirlo, definirla, definirse	definirnos	definiros	definirlos, definirlas, definirse
with gerund definiendo	dative	definiéndome	definiéndote	definiéndole, definiéndose	definiéndonos	definiéndoos	definiéndoles, definiéndose
	accusative	definiéndome	definiéndote	definiéndolo, definiéndola, definiéndose	definiéndonos	definiéndoos	definiéndolos, definiéndolas, definiéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative define	dative	defíneme	defínete	defínele	defínenos	not used	defíneles
	accusative	defíneme	defínete	defínelo, defínela	defínenos	not used	defínelos, defínelas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative definí	dative	definime	definite	definile	defininos	not used	definiles
	accusative	definime	definite	definilo, definila	defininos	not used	definilos, definilas
with formal second-person singular imperative defina	dative	defíname	not used	defínale, defínase	defínanos	not used	defínales
	accusative	defíname	not used	defínalo, defínala, defínase	defínanos	not used	defínalos, defínalas
with first-person plural imperative definamos	dative	not used	definámoste	definámosle	definámonos	definámoos	definámosles
	accusative	not used	definámoste	definámoslo, definámosla	definámonos	definámoos	definámoslos, definámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative definid	dative	definidme	not used	definidle	definidnos	definíos	definidles
	accusative	definidme	not used	definidlo, definidla	definidnos	definíos	definidlos, definidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative definan	dative	defínanme	not used	defínanle	defínannos	not used	defínanles, defínanse
	accusative	defínanme	not used	defínanlo, defínanla	defínannos	not used	defínanlos, defínanlas, defínanse

Derived terms

• autodefinirse
• redefinir

Related terms

• definición
• definido
• definitivo

Further reading

• “definir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024