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determinacy

American  
[dih-tur-muh-nuh-see] / dɪˈtɜr mə nə si /

noun

  1. the quality of being determinate.

  2. the condition of being determined or mandated.

determinacy British  
/ dɪˈtɜːmɪnəsɪ /

noun

  1. the quality of being defined or fixed

  2. the condition of being predicted or deduced

"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

Etymology

Origin of determinacy

First recorded in 1870–75; determin(ate) + -acy

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It’s a form of radical determinacy in the face of the chaotic,” he said.

From New York Times • May 27, 2021

When it came to Brian Ferneyhough's obscurely complex "Lemma-Icon-Epigram," Hodges' sheer determinacy was what proved gripping in its own right.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2018

“Flowering-time genes modulate meristem determinacy and growth form in Arabidopsis thaliana.”

From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.