Contextualizebeta

define

verb
/dɪˈfaɪn/

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”).

  1. derived from dēfīniō — “limit, settle, define”
  2. derived from definer
  3. inherited from definen

Definitions

  1. To determine with precision

    To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.

    • the defining power of an optical instrument
    • Rings[…]very distinct and well defined.

  2. To settle, decide (an argument etc.)

    • These warlike Champions, all in armour shine, / Assembled were in field the chalenge to define.

  3. To express the essential nature of something.

    • I define myself as a techno-anarchist.
    • Your past mistakes do not define who you are.
  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. To state the meaning of a word, phrase, sign, or symbol.

      • The textbook defined speed as velocity divided by time.

    2. To describe, explain, or make definite and clear

      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.

    3. To demark sharply the outlines or limits of an area or concept.

      • to define the legal boundaries of a property

    4. To establish the referent of a term or notation.

    5. A kind of macro in source code that replaces one text string with another wherever it…

      A kind of macro in source code that replaces one text string with another wherever it occurs.

      • 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.
      • 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.

The neighborhood

Derived

career-defining, codefine, definability, definable, definatory, defined benefit, defined benefits, defined contribution, defined contributions, definee, definement, definer, defining vocabulary, era-defining, misdefine, overdefine, predefine, pre-defined, redefine, semidefine, software defined radio, undefine, underdefine, user-defined function, user-defined graphic

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at define. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01define02clearly03discernible04derivable05differentiable06codomain07defined

A definitional loop anchored at define. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at define

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA