predetermine
Americanverb (used with object)
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to settle or decide in advance.
He had predetermined his answer to the offer.
-
to ordain in advance; predestine.
She believed that God had predetermined her sorrow.
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to direct or impel; influence strongly.
His sympathy for poor people predetermined his choice of a career.
verb
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to determine beforehand
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to influence or incline towards an opinion beforehand; bias
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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predeterminesimple
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predeterminessimple
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have predeterminedperfect
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has predeterminedperfect
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am predeterminingprogressive
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are predeterminingprogressive
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is predeterminingprogressive
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have been predeterminingperfect progressive
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has been predeterminingperfect progressive
Past
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predeterminedsimple
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had predeterminedperfect
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was predeterminingprogressive
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were predeterminingprogressive
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had been predeterminingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of predetermine
Explanation
The verb predetermine means "determine in advance," like when you predetermine how much money you will spend on your friend's birthday present to make shopping easier. Predetermine comes from the Latin word praedeterminare, from prae, meaning “beforehand,” and determinare, meaning “limit, settle.” When you predetermine things, such as who will bring the food and music to a party, things run more smoothly than if you left it to chance. Another meaning of the word isn't so positive — if the organizers of a contest predetermine that their friend will win, this isn't fair to the other participants.
Vocabulary lists containing predetermine
Content Summary G.1: Principles of Geography
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Invisible Man
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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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:
"There has to be concessions made by all sides. We're not going to predetermine what those are."
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2025
They have taken a similar tone in the wake of the indictment, but suggest that their colleagues should not predetermine Bragg’s motives before launching investigations.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 2023
If hidden variables predetermine the results of the measurements, Alice and Bob can’t win every round.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 20, 2022
“To predetermine which way he’s going to vote doesn’t do that board justice in any way,” she said.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 10, 2021
Although current technology allows STSs to predetermine a timeprint, spatial scientists have not yet developed technology to select specific geographic landing destinations outside of the STM coordinates.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
This system predetermines a player’s compensation based on their draft position.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
"Shape predetermines how a particle is going to move," McGovern said.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2023
It wasn’t a factor for his rookie deal because the collective bargaining agreement predetermines the money in each draft slot.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2022
In its call to suspend time, the music carries the potential to press pause on the punishing velocity that attends disaster, that robs our attention and predetermines a fixed future.
From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
Second, Molinism safeguards free-will by denying that efficacious grace either physically or morally predetermines the will to one course of action.
From Grace, Actual and Habitual A Dogmatic Treatise by Preuss, Arthur
These vehicles are not fully autonomous, but independently follow a predetermined route.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
Pro wrestling is a realm where a man named John Cena plays a character named John Cena; the match outcomes are predetermined, but the personal stakes are huge.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
WSJ | Buy Side: A business credit line offers a predetermined funding source you can borrow against as needed, but costs can be high.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
And I find with my younger audience, they don't have this predetermined bias for what they're meant to enjoy.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
As Zola also sought to demonstrate in Les Rougon-Macquart, the trajectory of our lives is predetermined by our genetic inheritance.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The rule directs employers to consider six criteria for determining whether a worker is an employee or a contractor, without predetermining whether one outweighs the other.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
Hoarding and hiding information relevant to such differences, which amounts to predetermining a verdict of “guilty as charged,” violates basic principles of fair play and gives rise to justified resentment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2018
The Perennial Philosophy with its essential axioms defined by Aldous Huxley: Any event in any part of the universe has as its predetermining conditions all previous events in all parts of the universe.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2017
“I felt 100 percent, felt like I could do anything I had to do. Honestly, I’m going where the defense tells me to. I’m not predetermining anything.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 29, 2014
Without exception every pass in the Sierra was created by them without the slightest aid or predetermining guidance from any of the cataclysmic agents.
From The Mountains of California by Muir, John
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.
