determinate

[ adjective dih-tur-muh-nit; verb dih-tur-muh-neyt ]

/ adjective dɪˈtɜr mə nɪt; verb dɪˈtɜr məˌneɪt /

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See synonyms for: determinate / determinated / determinates / determinating on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having defined limits; definite.

settled; positive.

conclusive; final.

resolute.

Botany. (of an inflorescence) having the primary and each secondary axis ending in a flower or bud, thus preventing further elongation.

Engineering.

(of a structure) able to be analyzed completely by means of the principles of statics.
(of a member of a structure) subject only to definite, known stresses.
(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.

to make certain of.

to identify.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of determinate

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin dēterminātus, past participle of dētermināre.See determine, -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM determinate

de·ter·mi·nate·ly, adverbde·ter·mi·nate·ness, noun

Words nearby determinate

deteriorating, deterioration, determinable, determinacy, determinant, determinate, determination, determinative, determinator, determine, determined

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use determinate in a sentence

These are serious crimes that require the most serious of consequences, which is why a judge or jury sentences the individual to a lengthy determinate sentence, life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without parole.
Hogan vetoes bill that would abolish life sentences without parole for juveniles|Ovetta Wiggins|April 9, 2021|Washington Post
Their error didn’t have to do with determinate attributes or some other fine philosophical point understood only by a few logicians.
What Is Life? Its Vast Diversity Defies Easy Definition.|Carl Zimmer|March 9, 2021|Quanta Magazine
We do not suffer affliction by chance, but by the determinate counsel and permission of God.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I|Francis Augustus Cox
He must rather seek the absolute being by means of a determinate being, and the determinate being by means of an infinite being.
The Aesthetical Essays|Friedrich Schiller

It is the recognition of the import within the practical judgment, of the given, of fact, in its determinate character.
Essays in Experimental Logic|John Dewey
For they imply the seeming paradox of a judgment whose proper subject-matter is its own determinate formation.
Essays in Experimental Logic|John Dewey
To judge value is to engage in instituting a determinate value where none is given.
Essays in Experimental Logic|John Dewey

British Dictionary definitions for determinate

determinate

/ (dɪˈtɜːmɪnɪt) /

adjective

definitely limited, defined, or fixed; distinct

a less common word for determined

able to be predicted or deduced
(of an effect) obeying the law of causality

botany (of an inflorescence) having the main and branch stems ending in flowers and unable to grow further; cymose

(of a structure, stress, etc) able to be fully analysed or determined

Derived forms of determinate

determinately, 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

Scientific definitions for determinate

determinate

[ dĭ-tûr′mə-nĭt ]

Precisely determined, limited, or defined.

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.

determinate

Origin of determinate

OTHER WORDS FROM determinate

Words nearby determinate

Words related to determinate

How to use determinate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for determinate

Derived forms of determinate

Scientific definitions for determinate