definitive
/dɪˈfɪnɪtɪv/dih-FIH-nih-tiv
/dɪˈfɪnɪtɪv/dih-FIH-nih-tiv
Meaningserving to define
Common meaning: final and authoritative
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- fina boundary, end, limitLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 751 · scan
- itadjective ending (Latin past participle -itus)
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘down, away, off’ + ‘a boundary, end, limit’ → definitive
Journey through time
- Latinfīnis‘a boundary, end, limit’
- Frenchdefiner
- Englishdefinite‘clear and fixed’
- Englishformed in English from definitedefinitive‘final and authoritative’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from definite + -ive.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DEFINE, p.158 · scan
Roots
- fīnis Latin “a boundary, end, limit”
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