determinatio

Determinatio is a Latin noun meaning determination, specification, or limitation. In philosophical and scholarly usage, it refers to the act or result of fixing the boundaries or properties that define a thing, or of fixing the determinate content of a concept or term.

Etymology: The word comes from determinare, meaning to determine or fix, itself formed from de- “thoroughly” and terminare “to bound or end.” The term has been used across history to discuss how general notions are made determinate and how language constrains meaning.

Philosophical usage: In medieval scholastic thought, determinatio described how a universal term is made determinate by adding predicates, often by pairing genus with differentia to yield a species. The concept helps distinguish between generic content and determinate specifications. In early modern and continental philosophy, determinatio appears in discussions of essence, modality, and content, indicating how a thing’s determinate attributes are fixed or constrained.

Modern context: In translations of philosophical and logical texts, determinatio is frequently rendered as determination or determination of content, rather than as a standalone contemporary theory. The term remains primarily historical and linguistic, used to discuss how terms acquire precise scope or how objects receive determinate properties.

See also: determination, specification, genus and differentia, delimitation.