determinative

American  

[dih-tur-muh-ney-tiv, -nuh-tiv] / dɪˈtɜr məˌneɪ tɪv, -nə tɪv /

adjective

1. serving to determine; determining.

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noun

1. something that determines.

2. a graphic symbol used in ideographic writing to denote a semantic class and written next to a word to indicate in what semantic category that word is to be understood, thus at times distinguishing homographs.

determinative British  

/ dɪˈtɜːmɪnətɪv /

adjective

1. able to or serving to settle or determine; deciding

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noun

1. a factor, circumstance, etc, that settles or determines

2. grammar a less common word for determiner

3. (in a logographic writing system) a logogram that bears a separate meaning, from which compounds and inflected forms are built up

Other Word Forms

• determinatively adverb
• determinativeness noun
• nondeterminative adjective
• nondeterminatively adverb
• nondeterminativeness noun

Etymology

Origin of determinative

1645–55; probably < Medieval Latin dēterminātīvus fixed, Late Latin: crucial (of a disease), equivalent to Latin dētermināt ( us ) ( determinate ) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

But voting rights and legal form aren’t determinative for these purposes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025

Going into arguments, the determinative question was whether Gorsuch would apply his reasoning in Bostock to this case.

From Slate • Dec. 4, 2024

“The thing that’s perhaps the most determinative when you come up to the parole board process is what kind of prisoner have you been?”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2024

Historically, the Iowa caucuses have been interesting, if not determinative, kickoffs for nominating contests, cutting down front-runners and elevating little-known contenders.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2024

The resulting ambiguity was resolved by the addition of a silent sign called a determinative, to indicate the category of nouns to which the intended object belonged.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond