ascertain

[ as-er-teyn ]

/ ˌæs ərˈteɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ascertain ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to find out definitely; learn with certainty or assurance; determine: to ascertain the facts.

Archaic. to make certain, clear, or definitely known.

RELATED WORDS

detection, determination, find, finding

Nearby words

ascension day, ascensionist, ascensiontide, ascensive, ascent, ascertain, ascesis, ascetic, asceticism, asch, aschaffenburg

Origin of ascertain

1400–50; late Middle English, variant of assertain, acertain < Middle French acertain- (tonic stem of acertener to make certain), equivalent to a- a-⁵ + certain certain

Related forms

as·cer·tain·a·ble, adjectiveas·cer·tain·a·bly, adverbas·cer·tain·er, nounas·cer·tain·ment, noun

non·as·cer·tain·a·ble, adjectivenon·as·cer·tain·a·ble·ness, nounnon·as·cer·tain·a·bly, adverbnon·as·cer·tain·ment, nounpre·as·cer·tain, verb (used with object)pre·as·cer·tain·ment, nounun·as·cer·tain·a·ble, adjectiveun·as·cer·tain·a·bly, adverbun·as·cer·tained, adjectivewell-as·cer·tained, adjective

Synonym study

1. See learn.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ascertainment

In fact no test for its ascertainment, known to the sense or experience of the Committee, was omitted.
Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself|Henry Bibb
Experiment, the great instrument for the ascertainment of truth in physical science, answers this question for us.
On the Study of Zoology|Thomas H. Huxley
Its major significance derives from its ascertainment of an effective alternative to monarchy.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
We are all supposed to make the ascertainment of the truth our chief aim, but we do not all take the same trouble to attain it.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, March 1899|Various

But these facts have their causes; and the ascertainment of these causes is the doctrine of Ætiology.
Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews|Thomas Henry Huxley

British Dictionary definitions for ascertainment

ascertain

/ (ˌæsəˈteɪn) /

verb (tr)

to determine or discover definitely

archaic to make certain

Derived Forms

ascertainable, adjectiveascertainably, adverbascertainment, noun

Word Origin for ascertain

C15: from Old French acertener to make certain

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