definite

Pluraldefinites

1. 1
   adjective

   Free from any doubt; certain and beyond question.

   There is now definite proof that the medicine works.

   He refused to commit until he had a definite reason to act.

   Similarunquestionable

   Oppositeuncertain, doubtful, inconclusive

2. 2
   adjective

   Firmly decided, resolved, or settled in purpose.

   The committee was definite in rejecting the proposal.

   He gave a definite refusal and ended the conversation.

   Similarfirm, decisive, emphatic, categorical, resolute

   Oppositehesitant, tentative, undecided

   Note

   Applied to a person rather than a thing, the word moves from limits to resolve. Someone definite has drawn a line under the question and made up their mind. Shakespeare already uses it this way in Cymbeline (1611), where idiots, in a case of favor, "would be wisely definite." The firmness belongs to the decider, not to the boundaries of an object, which is what separates it from the "distinct limits" meaning.

3. 3
   adjective

   Having clear and distinct limits or boundaries.

   The new policy set a definite limit on overtime hours.

   The painting has a definite shape at its center.

   Similarclear, fixed, firm, distinct, specific

   Oppositevague, indefinite, indistinct, unclear

   Note

   The family begins with a past participle. Latin dēfīnītus comes from dēfīniō, the verb that also gave English define, so a definite thing is, at bottom, a defined one. This sense fixes edges and amounts: a definite measure, a definite period or interval. William Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences (1837) uses it in the chemist's claim that elements combine in definite proportions.

4. 4
   adjective

   Marking a noun as referring to a specific, identifiable person or thing.

   In English, the article 'the' makes a noun phrase definite.

   A definite reference tells the listener exactly which item is meant.

   Oppositeindefinite

   Note

   Grammar's sense, best known from the phrase the definite article. What matters here is shared knowledge. A noun phrase is definite when the speaker treats what it refers to as something the hearer can pick out uniquely. In English that work falls chiefly to the. The expressions that carry this marking get a name of their own in the grammarian's noun.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A word or phrase that points to a specified or identified person or thing.

   Grammarians classify 'the president' as a definite, since it names a specific person.

   Each definite in the sentence refers to someone the reader can already identify.

   Note

   Linguists turn the adjective into a count noun for the expressions themselves. A proper name is a definite, and so is any phrase headed by the definite article. It takes an ordinary plural, definites, and stays inside technical writing about grammar, where it sorts the expressions in a sentence by whether their referents are already identified.

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