determine

Determine is a verb with senses centered on establishing facts, deciding outcomes, or calculating values. In everyday language, it means to ascertain something through observation, analysis, or measurement—for example, determining the time of a meeting or determining the cause of a fault. It can also mean to decide or settle a matter, often implying a formal or deliberate outcome, such as determining policy or determining a course of action. In mathematics and computing, determine describes deriving a result from a model, data, or rules, such as determining a solution to an equation or determining a value from a function.

Etymology: Determine comes from Latin determinare, from de- “thoroughly” or “from” and terminare “to bound, end,” originally meaning to set limits; the modern senses broaden to discovery, decision, and calculation.

Usage notes: Determine often implies a methodical process that yields a verified conclusion, whereas decide emphasizes choosing among alternatives, and ascertain emphasizes verification or discovery. The phrase determine whether is common, as are determine the cause, determine the value, determine the outcome.

Related forms include determination (the act of determining or the result), determinate (defined or fixed), determinable (capable of being determined), and determinate/indeterminate in contrast. In mathematics, determinant is a distinct term referring to a scalar value computed from a square matrix; it is related etymologically but not a form of the verb. See also determinism.