determiner

[ dih-tur-muh-ner ]

/ dɪˈtɜr mə nər /

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noun

a person or thing that determines.

Grammar. a member of a subclass of English limiting adjectival words that usually precede descriptive adjectives and include the articles the, a, and an, and any words that may substitute for them, as your, their, some, and each.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

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Origin of determiner

First recorded in 1520–30; determine + -er¹

Words nearby determiner

determination, determinative, determinator, determine, determined, determiner, determinism, deterministic, deterred, deterrence, deterrent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use determiner in a sentence

It has become one of the most influential, if underappreciated, determiners of climate policy in the world.
Barbados Resists Climate Colonialism in an Effort to Survive the Costs of Global Warming|by Abrahm Lustgarten|July 27, 2022|ProPublica
That means that there is a determiner for it which is grouped with other determiners in one of the chromosomes.
Physiology|Ernest G. Martin
Suppose the determiner of a certain character (violet colour of flower in the bean) is located in a chromosome A of this species.
The Organism as a Whole|Jacques Loeb
Yahwe is also the determiner of destiny, but he is a rational power behind events.
The Assyrian and Hebrew Hymns of Praise|Charles Gordon Cumming

In a pure variety like the black Andalusians, all the germ cells of each fowl are alike in having this determiner for black color.
The Social Direction of Evolution|William E. Kellicott
Blue eyes are due to the absence of a brown pigment determiner, et cetera.
The Social Direction of Evolution|William E. Kellicott

British Dictionary definitions for determiner

determiner

/ (dɪˈtɜːmɪnə) /

noun

a word, such as a number, article, possessive adjective, etc, that determines (limits) the meaning of a noun phrase, e.g. their in `their black cat'

a person or thing that determines

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