determine
Americanverb (used with object)
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determines,
present (3rd person singular)
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determined,
past participle, past
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determining
present participle
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to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc.
- Synonyms:
- verify
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to settle or decide (a dispute, question, etc.) by an authoritative or conclusive decision.
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to cause, affect, or control; fix or decide causally.
Demand for a product usually determines supply.
- Synonyms:
- influence
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to give direction or tendency to; impel.
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Geometry. to fix the position of.
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Logic. to limit (a notion) by adding differentiating characteristics.
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Chiefly Law. to put an end to; terminate.
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to lead or bring (a person) to a decision.
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to decide upon.
verb (used without object)
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determines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
determined,
past participle, past
-
determining
present participle
-
to come to a decision or resolution; decide.
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Chiefly Law. to come to an end.
verb
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to settle or decide (an argument, question, etc) conclusively, as by referring to an authority
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(tr) to ascertain or conclude, esp after observation or consideration
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(tr) to shape or influence; give direction to
experience often determines ability
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(tr) to fix in scope, extent, variety, etc
the river determined the edge of the property
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to make or cause to make a decision
he determined never to marry
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(tr) logic to define or limit (a notion) by adding or requiring certain features or characteristics
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(tr) geometry to fix or specify the position, form, or configuration of
two points determine a line
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law to come or bring to an end, as an estate or interest in land
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(tr) to decide (a legal action or dispute)
Usage
What does determine mean? Determine means to conclude, as after reasoning or observing, as in After considering all my options, I’ve determined which college I want to attend. Generally, to determine something is to come to a conclusive decision from a place of authority on the subject. Determine can also mean to cause or control, as in How much homework my teacher assigns will determine whether I can go to the game tonight. Determine is also used to mean to give direction to, as a boss might determine what tasks their employees will do. Example: I have determined that the cause of death was cardiac arrest.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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quasi-determineverb
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redetermineverb
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interdetermineverb (used with object)
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undeterminingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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determinesimple
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determinessimple
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have determinedperfect
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has determinedperfect
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am determiningprogressive
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are determiningprogressive
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is determiningprogressive
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have been determiningperfect progressive
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has been determiningperfect progressive
Past
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determinedsimple
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had determinedperfect
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was determiningprogressive
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were determiningprogressive
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had been determiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of determine
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French determiner, from Latin dētermināre “to mark out and fix boundaries,” equivalent to dē- prefix indicating separation + termināre “to bound, limit”; see de-, terminate
Explanation
If you determine something, you figure it out or settle a question, like when, after checking paws and hands, you determine that it's not the dog that ate your candy stash, but your kid sister. Determine comes from the Latin for "bring to a close," and when you determine something, you have closed all the questions you have about it and are quite sure you know the answer. If you become a detective, you'll have to determine who did the crime. After working through a mathematical problem, you determine the value of X. Determine can also mean influence. Your childhood spent in your grandmother's delightful kitchen might have determined your future career as a baker.
Vocabulary lists containing determine
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Vocabulary of the Common Core
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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.
See Examples For:
These extra statistical checks were designed to determine whether people dropping out of the study could have distorted the final results.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Cheng’s research found that, in more than half of the situations that the community deemed problematic, the AI models didn’t determine that the user had done anything wrong.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The McClellan Oscillator, an indicator developed by McClellan’s parents, is the final criteria necessary to determine whether the Omen triggered or not.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
"A rapid assessment is currently underway to determine the number of casualties and the extent of the impact. We will provide that information after the data has been verified."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
We were able to determine the date of her injuries because the animal had severe burns resulting from the Rockledge Fire.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Your cost of living now likely determines your cost of living in retirement.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
But footage from shootings or incidents resulting in death or serious injury will be released promptly only when ICE determines doing so is in the agency’s “best interests,” according to the policy.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
The measure supported by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will allow the agency to approve deals that put station ownership groups over the cap if the agency determines that they are promoting the public interest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"As long as a single test determines access to scarce opportunities, there will be strong incentives for exam malpractice, regardless of the testing format," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
“The serum connects you to the program,” he says, “but the program determines whose landscape you go through. And right now, it’s set to put us through mine.”
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
Rejecting an appeal by the family, Migration Court of Appeal documents state "when weighing up the state's interest in regulated immigration" and Mason's "private life", it determined expulsion was "proportionate".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Officials are actively investigating the identity of the remains, and the cause death will be determined by the county medical examiner’s office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
But many of Reddit’s de facto rulers—the unpaid, mostly-anonymous moderators who police each subreddit and wield automated management tools—are determined to keep any other whiff of marketing out of the organic feeds they lovingly cultivate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Ipswich Town are determined to sign German striker Derry Scherhant, 23, from Freiburg this summer.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
He was determined that his children would go to college.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
By determining where particular amphibians were present or absent, researchers can reconstruct environmental changes at a more local scale.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Bone analysis would be a key way of determining the soldiers' identities, it added.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“While we believe all artists have creative choice in determining how they present themselves, Spotify’s programming is focused on elevating music from authentic artists building careers in music,” the company said .
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
They exert an outsize role in determining mortgage-underwriting standards, and they are using that power to get condos, many of which are growing old, to set aside more money for physical upkeep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
In his final years, the old man, a teacher of mathematics in our elementary schools, had kept assiduous track of Bibi’s illness in hopes of determining some logic to her condition.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
