determinative

Word Origin & History

1650s, from French déterminatif (15c.), from Latin determinat-, past participle stem of determinare (see determine). As a noun from 1832.

In Egyptian hieroglyphics the symbol for stone is used as the determinative for Set.

As in later periods, their names are there preceded by the determinative for divinity.

According to the essays, it is the needs of a situation which are determinative.

Here, too, the welfare of society is the determinative factor.

It is true that no one thing is determinative in the making of a nation.

The years since that determinative hour in the Richmond book-shop had been well harvested.

The internal condition is determinative, for things that are boresome to one may be very interesting to another.

His inability is not determinative, because the circumstances following a deed have no reflex effect.

The Minister tells me still, that he is working upon the subject, but cannot yet give a determinative answer.

The reader should remember the name, for it was the scene of one of the most remarkable and determinative events in history.

adjective. influential, impressionable