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determinate

[adjective dih-tur-muh-nit; verb dih-tur-muh-neyt]
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adjective
  1. having defined limits; definite.
  2. settled; positive.
  3. conclusive; final.
  4. resolute.
  5. Botany. (of an inflorescence) having the primary and each secondary axis ending in a flower or bud, thus preventing further elongation.
  6. Engineering.
    1. (of a structure) able to be analyzed completely by means of the principles of statics.
    2. (of a member of a structure) subject only to definite, known stresses.
    3. (of a stress) able to be determined through the principles of statics.
verb (used with object), de·ter·mi·nat·ed, de·ter·mi·nat·ing.
  1. to make certain of.
  2. to identify.

Origin of determinate

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin dēterminātus, past participle of dētermināre. See determine, -ate1
Related formsde·ter·mi·nate·ly, adverbde·ter·mi·nate·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for determinating

Historical Examples

  • In the animal this sense is the determinating principle of motion, but in man only the means, or the secondary cause.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume V (of 10)

    Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

  • Mind is the determinating principle; matter is indeterminate and indefinite.

    Christianity and Greek Philosophy

    Benjamin Franklin Cocker

  • But even to-day what do we find the general reliance of the American mind in determinating this question?

British Dictionary definitions for determinating

determinate

adjective
  1. definitely limited, defined, or fixed; distinct
  2. a less common word for determined
    1. able to be predicted or deduced
    2. (of an effect) obeying the law of causality
  4. botany (of an inflorescence) having the main and branch stems ending in flowers and unable to grow further; cymose
  5. (of a structure, stress, etc) able to be fully analysed or determined
Derived Formsdeterminately, adverbdeterminateness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for determinating

determinate

adj.

late 14c., from Latin determinatus, past participle of determinare (see determine).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
determinating in Science

determinate

[dĭ-tûr′mə-nĭt]
  1. Precisely determined, limited, or defined.
  2. Not continuing to grow at an apical meristem. In the cyme, a determinate inflorescence, for example, the first floret develops at the end of the meristem, and no further elongation of the inflorescence can occur.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.