# definitive

Pronunciation: US/AUS say "di-FIN-uh-tiv" /dɪˈfɪn.ə.tɪv/; UK say "di-FIN-i-tiv" /dɪˈfɪn.ɪ.tɪv/

## Adjective

1. Settling a matter finally and conclusively, so that it is decided once and for all.
   - Simple: Deciding something in a final way, so the matter is settled.
   - _The committee will hold a definitive vote on the budget next Tuesday._
   - _As the owner, she has the definitive say on who gets hired._
2. Clear and certain, carrying full authority, and complete in every part.
   - Simple: Clear and complete, and trusted by people as reliable.
   - _Her book is still the definitive biography of the composer, forty years after it came out._
   - _The museum published a definitive catalog of every painting the artist made._
3. Defined explicitly, in clear and exact terms.
   - Simple: Clearly explained in exact words.
   - _The contract gives no definitive meaning to "reasonable effort," so each side reads it differently._
   - _Without definitive boundaries, the two farms argued over the same strip of land for years._
4. Serving to limit or determine something.
   - Simple: Setting limits on something or deciding what it is.
   - _In the phrase "those three books," the word "those" is definitive, limiting the noun to particular books already in view._
   - _A definitive clause at the end of the rule restricts it to members over eighteen._
6. Of postage stamps, issued for general everyday use rather than for commemorative purposes.
   - Simple: Of a stamp, made for normal use and not to celebrate or remember something.
   - _The postal service released a new definitive series featuring native birds._
   - _Her collection mixes definitive and commemorative stamps from the 1950s._

## Noun

5. An ordinary postage stamp belonging to a series issued in every denomination, or reprinted whenever demand requires.
   - Simple: A regular postage stamp that comes in a full set of prices or is printed again when needed.
   - _The new definitive shows a lighthouse and comes in every value from one cent to five dollars._
   - _He keeps his definitives in a separate album from the colorful commemoratives._
7. In grammar, a word that marks something as specific or limits its reference, such as a definite article or a demonstrative pronoun.
   - Simple: A word like "the" or "this" that shows exactly which thing you mean.
   - _In "that old house," the definitive "that" singles out one particular building._
   - _Today's grammar lesson covered definitives such as "the" and "those."_

## Adjective

8. Firm in purpose, having fully made up one's mind. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Sure about what you have decided to do.

## Origin

From Middle French définitif.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/definitive (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).