Determine

How to spell determine

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce determine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does determine mean?

1. verbTo establish or settle something conclusively, or to firmly decide on a course of action.

Determine in a sentence

• The surveyor will determine the exact boundary between the two properties.

• A quick blood test can determine whether the patient is anaemic.

Where does determine come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb determinare, which meant 'to set bounds to' or 'to fix the limits of'. It was built from the prefix de-, here acting as an intensifier meaning 'completely', joined to terminare 'to bound or limit', which itself came from terminus, the Latin word for a boundary marker or end point. The same terminus root survives in plain sight in English words like 'terminal', 'terminate', and 'term', all carrying that sense of a fixed edge or limit. English took the word in during the 1300s through Old French determiner, and the idea of fixing a boundary naturally broadened into 'to settle a question', 'to find out for certain', and 'to make a firm decision'. Knowing that the heart of the word is termin (the Latin boundary) helps fix the spelling, since the middle is the same stem you already write in 'terminal'.

How the word is built

• de- (completely)
• termin (boundary, limit, from Latin terminus)
• -e (verb ending)