determine

verb

Etymology: From Middle English determinen, from Old French determiner, French déterminer, from Latin determināre (“to bound, limit, prescribe, fix, determine”), from de + termināre (“to limit”), from terminus (“bound, limit, end”).

1. To set the boundaries or limits of.

   “[God] hath determined the times before appointed.”

   “The knowledge of men hitherto hath been determined by the view or sight.”

2. To ascertain definitely; to figure out, find out, or conclude by analyzing, calculating, or investigating.

   “Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.”

3. To fix the form or character of; to shape; to prescribe imperatively; to regulate; to settle.

   “The character of the soul is determined by the character of its God.”

   “something divinely beautiful […] that at some time or other might influence or even determine her course of life”

4. To fix the course of; to impel and direct; with a remoter object preceded by to.

   “The news of his father's illness determined him to depart immediately.”

5. To bring to a conclusion, as a question or controversy; to settle authoritative or judicial sentence; to decide.

   “The court has determined the cause.”

6. To resolve (to do something); to establish a fixed intention; to cause (something) to come to a conclusion or decision; to lead.

   “I determined to go home at once.”

7. To define or limit by adding a differentia.
8. To bring to an end, finish; to come to an end, stop, end.

   “Novv, vvhere is hee, that vvill not ſtay ſo long Till his Friend ſickneſſe hath determin'd me?”

   “[…] whose assemblies are continued […] for the space of seven moons, after which their authority determines, and writs are issued for new elections.”