Determinacioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a firm decision or resolve to act ; the act of fixing precise limits or boundaries ; a final conclusion or ending of a matter
2. Medieval usage meaning a settled resolve to pursue a course ; the defining of exact bounds or edges ; the close or termination of an argument or affair
3. Old English-derived sense of a resolute decision reached ; a marking out of limits or definition ; the final settling or ending of something

Etymology: "Determinacioun" is a Middle English word, and its story runs through Latin and Old French before it reached English. It comes from Latin "determinatio," a noun built from "determinare," meaning "to bound" or "to set limits to," which itself combines "de-" (here meaning "off" or "completely") with "terminus," a boundary or end-point. The literal sense was therefore a marking-off of a boundary, and the idea of settling a question grew naturally from fixing where something ends. The word passed into Middle English through Old French "determinacion," and English writers of the 14th and 15th centuries used the spelling "determinacioun" in a range of senses. Its meaning in the sense given here, a firm decision reached after deliberation, reflects the same logic: once a matter has been bounded and closed, a conclusion has been reached. Several related words in English, such as "determine" and "terminate," share the same Latin root and show the same movement from physical limit to settled outcome.