Definite

How to spell definite

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce definite

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does definite mean?

1. adjectiveClearly fixed, certain, and not open to doubt or change.

Definite in a sentence

• The manager gave a definite answer about the budget at last.

• We still have no definite date for the office move.

Where does definite come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin definitus, the past participle of definire, a verb meaning 'to set bounds to' or 'to determine precisely'. That verb was built from de-, here an intensifying prefix meaning 'completely', joined to finire 'to limit or finish', which in turn rests on finis, the Latin noun for a 'boundary' or 'end'. So at root something definite is something that has been firmly bounded and settled, with no fuzzy edges left over. English took the word in during the late 1400s, and it still carries that core idea of a fixed, clearly marked limit. The same finis root sits openly inside everyday relatives such as 'finish', 'final' and 'infinite', and remembering that fin spelling is the surest cure for the famous misspelling 'definately': there is no 'a' in the middle, only the i of finis.

How the word is built

• de- (completely)
• fin (boundary, limit, from Latin finis)
• -ite (adjective suffix)