determine

American  

[dih-tur-min] / dɪˈtɜr mɪn /

verb (used with object)

• determines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• determined,
  past participle,  past
• determining
  present participle

1. to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc.

   Synonyms:

   verify

2. to settle or decide (a dispute, question, etc.) by an authoritative or conclusive decision.

   Synonyms:

   adjust, resolve

3. to cause, affect, or control; fix or decide causally.

   Demand for a product usually determines supply.

   Synonyms:

   influence

4. to give direction or tendency to; impel.

   Synonyms:

   incline, lead, induce

5. Geometry. to fix the position of.

6. Logic. to limit (a notion) by adding differentiating characteristics.

7. Chiefly Law. to put an end to; terminate.

8. to lead or bring (a person) to a decision.

9. to decide upon.

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verb (used without object)

• determines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• determined,
  past participle,  past
• determining
  present participle

1. to come to a decision or resolution; decide.

2. Chiefly Law. to come to an end.

determine British  

/ dɪˈtɜːmɪn /

verb

1. to settle or decide (an argument, question, etc) conclusively, as by referring to an authority

2. (tr) to ascertain or conclude, esp after observation or consideration

3. (tr) to shape or influence; give direction to

   experience often determines ability

4. (tr) to fix in scope, extent, variety, etc

   the river determined the edge of the property

5. to make or cause to make a decision

   he determined never to marry

6. (tr) logic to define or limit (a notion) by adding or requiring certain features or characteristics

7. (tr) geometry to fix or specify the position, form, or configuration of

   two points determine a line

8. law to come or bring to an end, as an estate or interest in land

9. (tr) to decide (a legal action or dispute)

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determine Idioms  

1. see bound and determined.

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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

• quasi-determine
  verb
• redetermine
  verb
• interdetermine
  verb (used with object)
• undetermining
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• determining
  present
• determined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• determine
  simple
• determines
  simple
• have determined
  perfect
• has determined
  perfect
• am determining
  progressive
• are determining
  progressive
• is determining
  progressive
• have been determining
  perfect progressive
• has been determining
  perfect progressive

Past

• determined
  simple
• had determined
  perfect
• was determining
  progressive
• were determining
  progressive
• had been determining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will determine
  simple
• will have determined
  perfect
• will be determining
  progressive
• will have been determining
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

determine determines determined determining

Because early snake fossils are rare, researchers have struggled to determine which environments and behaviors shaped their evolution.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Would it be worthwhile to request a review or hearing to determine whether her SSI amount should be increased based on her current living situation?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

Fulfilling the vision for Fifth and Broadway will help determine Gary’s fate, he added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

I would wander in with my perfectly sized tote, allow whatever charmed me to determine dinner and wait for the ingredients to organize themselves.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

It behooved them, therefore, to try to determine the legitimacy of the other claims.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

"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 study does not show that finger length directly determines brain size.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

As so often in Hitchcock’s work, the choice of milieus determines the suspense and the moral significance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Jackson, 27, could still face discipline from the NFL if the league determines that he violated its personal conduct policy for the second time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Dobzhansky could now restate the essential truth of Mendel’s discovery—a gene determines a physical feature—by generalizing that idea across multiple genes and multiple features: a genotype determines a phenotype.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

It added that their causes of death can only be determined after test results are out.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

However, many economists have determined that the cost of the tariffs are being passed on to U.S. consumers and contributing to the persistent inflation causing economic pain nationwide.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Whatever the case, Moreno appears to have determined that the questions and criticisms had become too loud to ignore.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

A simpler and more effective solution would be for state insurance regulators to mandate public disclosure of all ratings of private credit, along with explanations on how they were determined.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

“Well, ma’am, I’d like to fill out an application,” I said, tightrope-walking between being determined and perhaps seeming impudent.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

They got that result due to a state formula for determining who gets air conditioning.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

Rate expectations play a major role in determining yields in U.S. government bonds, which in turn influence an array of other borrowing costs, such as mortgage rates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

"The court took into account the sharp rise in the value of the defendant's shareholdings when determining the property division ratio," Friday's court statement said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Much of that uncertainty comes from the difficulty of determining how quickly Antarctica will lose ice.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

After observing for a while and determining that they were harmless, I decided to go down to the river for a swim as well.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

Related Words

• ascertain
• check
• demonstrate
• detect
• establish
• figure out
• learn
• see
• tell
• verify
• work out