determinate

English

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun) (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɜːmɪnət/

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• (verb) (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɜːmɪneɪt/

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Etymology 1

From Middle English determinate, determynat, determinat, from Latin dēterminātus, perfect passive participle of dēterminō (“I limit, set bounds”).

Adjective

determinate (not comparable)

1. Distinct, clearly defined. [from 14th c.]
   • 1668, John Dryden, Essay of Dramatick Poesie:

     Quantity of words and a determinate number of feet.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VIII, in Capricornia‎^[1], page 122:

     […] on account of his responsibility to Norman and Marigold, and on account of his now determinate age, he considered himself ineligible for more dangerous service.

2. Fixed, set, unvarying. [from 16th c.]
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts :[23], folio clv, verso:

     […] hym have ye taken by the hondes of vnrightewes perſones / after he was delivered by the determinat counſell and fore knoweledge of God / and have crucified and ſlayne hym / […]

   • 1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “[Maria: or, The] Wrongs of Woman”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]; and G[eorge,] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […], →OCLC, chapter VI, page 129:

     [S]he watched impatiently for the dawn of day, with that determinate purpoſe which generally inſures ſucceſs.

3. (biology) Of growth: ending once a genetically predetermined structure has formed.
4. Conclusive; decisive; positive.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 2:–23:

     (please add the primary text of this quotation)

     The determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

5. (obsolete) Determined or resolved upon.
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     My determinate voyage.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 114:

     Francesca saw the danger of allowing this apathy to increase, and would fain have laid down some determinate scheme, and sought some fixed home and employment, which must have brought its occupations, its habits, and, finally, its interests.

6. Of determined purpose; resolute.
   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, →OCLC:

     More determinate to do than skilfull how to do.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "limited"): indeterminate, nondeterminate
• (antonym(s) of "biology"): indeterminate

Derived terms

• determinateness
• determinate state

Related terms

• determinacy
• determination
• determine
• deterministic

Translations

distinct, defined

• Bulgarian: определен (bg) (opredelen), установен (bg) (ustanoven), ограничен (bg) (ograničen)
• Catalan: determinat (ca)
• German: bestimmt (de), entschieden (de), eindeutig (de)
• Hungarian: meghatározott (hu)
• Spanish: determinado (es)

Noun

determinate (plural determinates)

1. (philosophy) A single state of a particular determinable attribute.
   • 2007 September 5, David Denby, “Generating possibilities”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 141, number 2, →DOI:

     And since being negatively-charged and being positively-charged are determinates of the same determinable, [D5] will not permit us to infer worlds where anything negatively-charged is also positively-charged.

Etymology 2

From Middle English determinaten, from the adjective (see above).

Verb

determinate (third-person singular simple present determinates, present participle determinating, simple past and past participle determinated)

1. (obsolete) To bring to an end; to determine.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     The sly, slow hours shall not determinate / The dateless limit of thy dear exile.

Esperanto

Adverb

determinate

1. present adverbial passive participle of determini

Italian

Adjective

determinate f pl

1. feminine plural of determinato

Anagrams

• demeritante

Latin

Verb

dētermināte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēterminō

Spanish

Verb

determinate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of determinar combined with te