define

English Online Dictionary. What means define‎? What does define mean?

English

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈfaɪn/
• Hyphenation: de‧fine
• Rhymes: -aɪn

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.
2. (obsolete) To settle, decide (an argument etc.) [16th–17th c.]
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.

Translations

Further reading

• “define”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “define”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• feed-in, feedin', infeed

Galician

Verb

define

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

Portuguese

Verb

define

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

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Verb

define

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

Turkish

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

define (definite accusative defineyi, plural defineler)

1. treasure trove

Declension

References

• “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

Borrowed from French défini, past participle of définir.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

define

1. (bodybuilding) defined

   define vücut ― a defined body

Derived terms

Related terms