different between define vs definitive

English

Etymology

From Middle English definen, from Old French definer, variant of definir, from Latin d?f?ni? (“limit, settle, define”), from d? + f?ni? (“set a limit, bound, end”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??fa?n/
• Rhymes: -a?n

Verb

define (third-person singular simple present defines, present participle defining, simple past and past participle defined)

1. To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.

   • Rings […] very distinct and well defined.

2. (obsolete) To settle, decide (an argument etc.) [16th-17th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.3:

     These warlike Champions, all in armour shine, / Assembled were in field the chalenge to define.

3. To express the essential nature of something.

4. To state the meaning of a word, phrase, sign, or symbol.

5. To describe, explain, or make definite and clear; used to request the listener or other person to elaborate or explain more clearly his or her intended meaning of a word or expression.

6. To demark sharply the outlines or limits of an area or concept.

7. (mathematics) To establish the referent of a term or notation.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

define (plural defines)

1. (programming) A kind of macro in source code that replaces one text string with another wherever it occurs.
   • 1996, James Gosling, Henry McGilton, The Java Language Environment

     From the computer programming perspective, Java looks like C and C++ while discarding the overwhelming complexities of those languages, such as typedefs, defines, preprocessor, unions, pointers, and multiple inheritance.

   • 1999, Ian Joyner, Objects unencapsulated: Java, Eiffel, and C++ (page 309)

     Anyone who has attempted to do OO programming in a conventional language using defines will find out that it is impossible to realize the benefits easily, if at all, without compiler support.

Translations

Further reading

• define in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• define in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• feed-in, feedin', infeed

Galician

Verb

define

1. third-person singular present indicative of definir
2. second-person singular imperative of definir

Portuguese

Verb

define

1. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of definir
2. second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of definir

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de?fine/, [d?e?fi.ne]

Verb

define

1. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of definir.
2. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of definir.

Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic ?????? (daf?na).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.fi??ne/

Noun

define

1. treasure trove

Declension

References

• define in Turkish dictionaries at Türk Dil Kurumu

English

Etymology

From Middle French définitif.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??f?n.?t.?v/

Adjective

definitive (comparative more definitive, superlative most definitive)

1. explicitly defined
2. conclusive or decisive

3. definite, authoritative and complete
   • 1838, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic

     Some definitive […] scheme of reconciliation.

4. limiting; determining

5. (philately) general, not issued for commemorative purposes
6. (obsolete) Determined; resolved.
   • 1604, William Shakespeare, Measure, for Measure, V. i. 424:

     Never crave him. We are definitive.

Derived terms

• definitively

Translations

Noun

definitive (plural definitives)

1. (grammar) a word, such as a definite article or demonstrative pronoun, that defines or limits something
2. (philately) an ordinary postage stamp that is part of a series of all denominations or is reprinted as needed to meet demand

   Synonym: definitive stamp

Translations

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /defini?tive/
• Rhymes: -ive

Adverb

definitive

1. definitively

German

Adjective

definitive

1. inflection of definitiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

definitive

1. feminine plural of definitivo

Anagrams

• definitevi

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /de?.fi?.ni??ti?.u?e/, [d?e?fi?ni??t?i?u??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /de.fi.ni?ti.ve/, [d??fini?t?i?v?]

Adjective

d?f?n?t?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of d?f?n?t?vus

References

• definitive in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• definitive in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette