different between definite vs momentous

English

Etymology

From Latin d?f?n?tus, past participle of d?f?ni?, whence also English define.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?f?n?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?d?f?n?t/, /?d?f?n?t/

Adjective

definite (comparative more definite, superlative most definite)

1. Having distinct limits.

   definite dimensions; a definite measure; a definite period or interval

   • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences, London: John W. Parker, Volume 3, Book 14, Chapter 8, p. 145,^[1]

     […] elements combine in definite proportions […]

2. Free from any doubt.

   Synonym: unquestionable

   definite knowledge

3. Determined; resolved; decided.
   • c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act I, Scene 6,^[2]

     […] idiots in this case of favour would

     Be wisely definite;

4. (linguistics) Designating an identified or immediately identifiable person or thing, or group of persons or things

   the definite article

Antonyms

• indefinite

Derived terms

• definite article
• definitely

Related terms

• define
• definitive
• indefinite

Translations

Noun

definite (plural definites)

1. (grammar) A word or phrase that designates a specified or identified person or entity.
2. (obsolete) Anything that is defined or determined.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.fi?ni.te/

Verb

definite

1. second-person plural indicative present of definire
2. second-person plural imperative present of definire

Adjective

definite

1. feminine plural of definito

Latin

Verb

d?f?n?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of d?f?ni?

References

• definite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

English

Etymology

From moment +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m???m?n.t?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /mo??m?n.t?s/
• Rhymes: -?nt?s

Adjective

momentous (comparative more momentous, superlative most momentous)

1. Outstanding in importance, of great consequence.
   • 1725, Daniel Defoe, Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business:

     The reason why I did not publish this book till the end of the last sessions of parliament was, because I did not care to interfere with more momentous affairs.

   • 1831, James Fenimore Cooper, Homeward Bound, ch. 31:

     "It has been a momentous month, and I hope we shall all retain healthful recollections of it as long as we live."

   • 1902, Joseph Conrad, The End of the Tether, ch. 3:

     What to the other parties was merely the sale of a ship was to him a momentous event involving a radically new view of existence.

   • 2007 July 1, Richard Dawkins, "Inferior Design," New York Times (retrieved 19 Nov 2013):

     Natural selection is arguably the most momentous idea ever to occur to a human mind, because it — alone as far as we know — explains the elegant illusion of design that pervades the living kingdoms and explains, in passing, us.

Derived terms

• momentously
• momentousness

Translations

Anagrams

• mesonotum