determinate

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, Capricornia, Chapter VIII, p. 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 762018299, Acts ]:

     hym have ye taken by the hondes of unrightewes persones, after he was delivered by the determinat counsell and foreknowledge of God, and have crucified and slayne hym [...].

   • 1798, Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman‎:

     [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 964384981, Acts 2:–23:

     (please add the primary text of this quote)

     The determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

5. (obsolete) Determined or resolved upon.
   • c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or VVhat You VVill”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:

     My determinate voyage.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, 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 801077108; 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 318419127:

     More determinate to do than skilfull how to do.

Antonyms

• (limited): indeterminate, nondeterminate
• (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:10.1007/s11098-007-9159-z:

     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 606515358, [Act I, scene iii]:

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

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Esperanto

Adverb

determinate

1. present adverbial passive participle of determini

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Italian

Adjective

determinate f pl

1. feminine plural of determinato

Anagrams

• demeritante

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Latin

Verb

dētermināte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēterminō