Wiktionary

define

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English definen, from Old French definer, variant of definir, from Latin dēfīniō (“limit, settle, define”), from dē + fīniō (“set a limit, bound, end”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /dɪˈfaɪn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: de‧fine
  • Rhymes: -aɪn

Verb

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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.
    the defining power of an optical instrument
  2. (obsolete) To settle, decide (an argument etc.) [16th–17th c.]
  3. To express the essential nature of something.
    I define myself as a techno-anarchist.
    Your past mistakes do not define who you are.
    • 2013 May-June, Brian Hayes, “Crinkly Curves”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 178:
      Cantor defined a one-to-one correspondence between the points of the square and the points of the line segment. Every point in the square was associated with a single point in the segment; every point in the segment was matched with a unique point in the square.
  4. To state the meaning of a word, phrase, sign, or symbol.
    The textbook defined speed as velocity divided by time.
  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.
    Person 1: Is she good at math?
    Person 2: Define "good." If you mean if she is faster than the average middle schooler at multiplication, then yes. If you mean if she is able to do multivariable calculus, then no.
  6. To demark sharply the outlines or limits of an area or concept.
    to define the legal boundaries of a property
    • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 164:
      Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?
  7. (mathematics) To establish the referent of a term or notation.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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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

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macro that replaces one text string with another

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Galician

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Verb

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define

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

Portuguese

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Verb

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define

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

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /deˈfine/ [d̪eˈfi.ne]
  • Rhymes: -ine
  • Syllabification: de‧fi‧ne

Verb

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define

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

Turkish

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Etymology 1

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From Ottoman Turkish دفینه (define), from Arabic دَفِينَة (dafīna), from دَفَنَ (dafana, “to bury”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /de.fiːˈne/
  • Hyphenation: de‧fi‧ne

Noun

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define (definite accusative defineyi, plural defineler)

  1. treasure trove
Declension
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Inflection
Nominative define
Definite accusative defineyi
Singular Plural
Nominative define defineler
Definite accusative defineyi defineleri
Dative defineye definelere
Locative definede definelerde
Ablative defineden definelerden
Genitive definenin definelerin
Possessive forms
Nominative
Singular Plural
1st singular definem definelerim
2nd singular definen definelerin
3rd singular definesi defineleri
1st plural definemiz definelerimiz
2nd plural defineniz defineleriniz
3rd plural defineleri defineleri
Definite accusative
Singular Plural
1st singular definemi definelerimi
2nd singular defineni definelerini
3rd singular definesini definelerini
1st plural definemizi definelerimizi
2nd plural definenizi definelerinizi
3rd plural definelerini definelerini
Dative
Singular Plural
1st singular defineme definelerime
2nd singular definene definelerine
3rd singular definesine definelerine
1st plural definemize definelerimize
2nd plural definenize definelerinize
3rd plural definelerine definelerine
Locative
Singular Plural
1st singular definemde definelerimde
2nd singular definende definelerinde
3rd singular definesinde definelerinde
1st plural definemizde definelerimizde
2nd plural definenizde definelerinizde
3rd plural definelerinde definelerinde
Ablative
Singular Plural
1st singular definemden definelerimden
2nd singular definenden definelerinden
3rd singular definesinden definelerinden
1st plural definemizden definelerimizden
2nd plural definenizden definelerinizden
3rd plural definelerinden definelerinden
Genitive
Singular Plural
1st singular definemin definelerimin
2nd singular definenin definelerinin
3rd singular definesinin definelerinin
1st plural definemizin definelerimizin
2nd plural definenizin definelerinizin
3rd plural definelerinin definelerinin

References

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  • “define”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
  • Redhouse, James W. (1890) “دفینه”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 907

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from French défini, past participle of définir.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /de.fiˈne/
  • Hyphenation: de‧fi‧ne

Adjective

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define

  1. (bodybuilding) defined
    define vücut ― a defined body
Derived terms
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