Predetermined

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Decided or established before the event takes place and not subject to change
2. Set ahead of time with no possibility of alteration once fixed
3. Determined beforehand without reliance on later circumstances

Etymology: "Predetermined" is built from the prefix "pre-", meaning "before" or "in advance", attached to "determined", the past participle of "determine". "Determine" comes from Latin "determinare", meaning "to set boundaries to" or "to limit", from "de-" (down, off) and "terminus" (end, boundary). So the core idea is of a line drawn in advance, fixing an outcome before it happens. The combination is transparent: "pre-" plus a word meaning "fixed or decided" gives "decided beforehand." The prefix is a productive English formation, so "predetermined" needs no special story, only the meaning of its two parts. The sense of "determine" as "to settle or decide" grew from the older idea of marking a limit, which is why a predetermined outcome is one whose boundaries were drawn before events began.

Synonyms: preordained, fixed, established

Antonyms: uncertain, random