determiner
nounAU, UK /dɪˈtɜː.mɪ.nə(ɹ)/ · US /dɪˈtɝ.mɪ.nɚ/
Etymology From determine + -er.
› Someone or something that determines, or…
1
A factor that defines something, or one among several that define it.
- Near-synonym: definer
- In quality management, the determiners of quality sometimes differ across use cases.
1 more example
- The "steel-yards" and "measures" were the only determiners of weight and quantity — as the hour-glass and sun dial were of time — possessed at first (so far as appears) by the passengers of the Pilgrim ship […]1901, Azel Ames, The Mayflower and Her Log:
2
Someone or something (especially a sentient agent) that determines; a decider of a disposition.
- Near-synonyms: decider, decisor, disposer, definer, arbiter, arbitrator, decisionmaker
- He is the determiner [usually referring to God (in theological contexts) and job roles (in administrative contexts)]
2 more examples
- Who is the determiner? [administratively or theologically]
- The software is the determiner if no input is given before the prompt times out.
3
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A member of a class of words functioning in a noun phrase to identify or distinguish a referent without describing or modifying it.
- Near-synonym: determinative (broadly synonymous)
- Definite articles, indefinite articles, and cardinal numbers acting as quantifiers are types of determiners.
4
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A dependent function in a noun phrase that marks it as definite or indefinite. This function is usually filled by words in the determinative class but may be filled by other elements such as a genitive pronoun.
- Near-synonym: determinative (broadly synonymous)
- In the sentence "Many people voted for him," the word many is a determiner.
- Derived terms
- determiner phrase, predeterminer, postdeterminer, null determiner, determinerhood, determinerless
- Related terms
- article, demonstrative