Determine
[dɪ'tɜːmɪn] or [dɪ'tɝmɪn]
Definition
(verb.) fix conclusively or authoritatively; 'set the rules'.
(verb.) fix in scope; fix the boundaries of; 'the tree determines the border of the property'.
(verb.) shape or influence; give direction to; 'experience often determines ability'; 'mold public opinion'.
(verb.) establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study; 'find the product of two numbers'; 'The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize'.
(verb.) find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort; 'I want to see whether she speaks French'; 'See whether it works'; 'find out if he speaks Russian'; 'Check whether the train leaves on time'.
Checked by Lionel--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To fix the boundaries of; to mark off and separate.
(v. t.) To set bounds to; to fix the determination of; to limit; to bound; to bring to an end; to finish.
(v. t.) To fix the form or character of; to shape; to prescribe imperatively; to regulate; to settle.
(v. t.) To fix the course of; to impel and direct; -- with a remoter object preceded by to; as, another's will determined me to this course.
(v. t.) To ascertain definitely; to find out the specific character or name of; to assign to its true place in a system; as, to determine an unknown or a newly discovered plant or its name.
(v. t.) To bring to a conclusion, as a question or controversy; to settle authoritative or judicial sentence; to decide; as, the court has determined the cause.
(v. t.) To resolve on; to have a fixed intention of; also, to cause to come to a conclusion or decision; to lead; as, this determined him to go immediately.
(v. t.) To define or limit by adding a differentia.
(v. t.) To ascertain the presence, quantity, or amount of; as, to determine the parallax; to determine the salt in sea water.
(v. i.) To come to an end; to end; to terminate.
(v. i.) To come to a decision; to decide; to resolve; -- often with on.
Edited by Cary
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Settle, decide, adjust, conclude, end, fix.[2]. Ascertain, certify, verify, find out, make out, fix upon.[3]. Influence, lead, induce, give direction to.[4]. (Law.) Bring to an end, put an end to, cause to terminate.
v. n. Conclude, decide, resolve.
Typed by Hector
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See DEFINE_and_DECIDE]
Inputed by Harlow
Definition
v.t. to put terms or bounds to: to limit: to fix or settle the form or character of: to influence; to put an end to: to define.—v.i. to come to a decision: to resolve.—adj. Deter′minable capable of being determined decided or finished.—ns. Deter′minableness Determinabil′ity.—adj. Deter′minant serving to determine.—n. that which serves to determine: in mathematical analysis a symbolical method used for different processes as for the solution of equations by inspection.—adj. Deter′mināte determined or limited: fixed: decisive.—v.t. (Shak.) to determine.—adv. Deter′minātely.—n. Determinā′tion that which is determined or resolved on: end: direction to a certain end: resolution: fixedness of purpose: decision of character.—adjs. Deter′minātive that determines limits or defines; Deter′mined firm in purpose: fixed: resolute.—adv. Deter′minedly.—n. Deter′minism the doctrine that all things including the will are determined by causes—the converse of free-will: necessitarianism.—n. Deter′minist.—adj. Determinis′tic.
Inputed by Evelyn
Examples
- The measure of our self-consciousness will more or less determine whether we are to be the victims or the masters of change. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Could you determine, for example, solely from fingerprints whether the subject was Negro or Caucasian? Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- I can not determine. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- It would seem, Adeimantus, that the direction in which education starts a man, will determine his future life. Plato. The Republic.
- The stimulus to thinking is found when we wish to determine the significance of some act, performed or to be performed. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- He was a vivisector, made sections of the brain in order to determine the funct ions of its parts, and severed the gustatory, optic, and auditory nerves with a similar end in view. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- What course of action could she determine upon, which could be adopted in eight-and-forty hours? Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I was determined not to open my lips, lest my voice should betray me to Berkeley Craven. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- By the time the officer arrived, Sam had made himself so extremely popular, that the congregated gentlemen determined to see him to prison in a body. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Repeated depredations on the frontiers had exasperated the inhabitants to such a degree, that they determined on revenge upon every Indian. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Enough of a subject I had determined not to touch upon. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- This time he felt miserable but determined, while she was in a state of agitation which could not be hidden. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- However, I determined to cut all public amusements as soon as I knew Worcester to be in contact with the enemies of old England. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- I have been a determined character in later life, and I suppose I was then. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- It ended in my determining to keep the nightgown, and to wait, and watch, and see what use I might make of it. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- The lever and the pulley, lathe s, picks, saws, hammers, bronze operating-lances, sundials, water-clocks, the gnomon (a vertical pillar for determining the sun's altitude) were in use. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The directors, before finally determining on the system of locomotion to be adopted, offered a premium of ￡500 for the best locomotive engine to run on that line. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- As regards loss due to resistance, there is a well-known law for determining it, based on Ohm's law. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Such a situation can be saved only by an immediate outrush of feeling; and on Selden's side the determining impulse was still lacking. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I wish I could feel sure that you are right also in determining to try that last chance with the Count. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- But now that we are determining what classes of subjects are or are not to be spoken of, let us see whether any have been omitted by us. Plato. The Republic.
- Of course, the horse power to be obtained from a stream determines the size of the paddle wheel or turbine which can be run by it. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- And must not an animal be a lover of learning who determines what he likes and dislikes by the test of knowledge and ignorance? Plato. The Republic.
- If _K_ is closed for a longer time, a short dash is made by the marker, and, in general, the length of time that _K_ is closed determines the length of the marks recorded on the tape. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- In directing the activities of the young, society determines its own future in determining that of the young. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- This--this,' said he, 'determines me. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- In each color grade, greater brilliance determines higher value over stones of the same color grade with less brilliancy. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- We have seen how the colour of hogs, which feed on the paint-root in Virginia, determines whether they shall live or die. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Typed by Elbert