määrittävää

Määrittävä is a Finnish adjective formed from the verb määrittää, meaning to define, determine or specify. It is the present active participle of määrittää and is used as an attributive adjective to indicate that something defines or determines another thing.

The term is common in technical and academic language, where it precedes a noun in phrases such as määrittävä tekijä (the determining factor), määrittävä ominaisuus (the defining property), or määrittävä lause (the defining clause). The overarching sense is that the described element sets the boundary, criteria, or identification for the referent.

In linguistic and grammatical discussion, määrittävä describes elements that specify reference, often translated into English as “defining” or, in some contexts, “restrictive.” For example, a määrittävä relatiivilause would refer to a clause that narrows the meaning of the noun it modifies. The concept is related to the broader idea of definition and specification in language analysis.

Etymologically, määrittävä derives from the verb määrittää with the participial suffix -vä, producing a participial adjective that can function in noun phrases to express definitional or determinate force.