definirati

Definirati is a verb in Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian that means to give a precise meaning to something or to establish its limits or essential characteristics. It is used to articulate what something is by specifying its definition, scope, or criteria. The action is transitive, typically taking a direct object such as definirati pojam, definira granice, or definirati cilj. In formal contexts, such as law, philosophy, science, and education, it is common to distinguish between defining a term and merely describing it.

Definiranje is the noun; definicija is the related noun for definition. The verb appears in various tenses and moods with standard conjugation patterns like definiram, definiraš, definira, definiramo, definirate, definiraju. It forms phrases such as definirati problem, definirati uvjete, or definirati kriterije. Depending on context, definirati can imply an explicit, bounded sense of meaning or an operational definition that makes a concept usable in reasoning, experimentation, or programming.

Etymology: from Latin definire "to determine, bound, set limits"; via Italian definire or directly into South Slavic languages. The root fin- means end, limit. The related noun definicija is formed from the Latin definitio. The prefix de- plus fin- plus -ire indicates a verb of making something defined.