English

Noun

determiner ‎(plural determiners)

1. (grammar) A member of a class of words functioning in a noun phrase to identify or distinguish a referent without describing or modifying it.
2. (grammar) A dependent function in a noun phrase marking the NP 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.
3. Something that determines, or helps someone to determine, something else.
   • 1901: Azel Ames, The Mayflower and Her Log

     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,

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:determiner.

Synonyms

• (word class): determinative
• (grammatical function): determinative

Hypernyms

• (word class): function word

Hyponyms

• (word class): article (a/an, the), demonstrative determiner (this, those), possessive determiner, cardinal number (three, 50), quantifier (most, any, much, each)
  • predeterminer, central determiner, postdeterminer

Derived terms

• (in grammar): determiner phrase, predeterminer, postdeterminer, null determiner

See also

• Category:English determiners
• Category:Determiners by language
• article
• demonstrative

Translations

References

• determiner at OneLook Dictionary Search
• determiner in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language Huddleston & Pullum, 2002. CUP.

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin dēterminare, present active infinitive of dēterminō.

Verb

determiner

1. to determine

Conjugation

Latin

Verb

dēterminer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of dēterminō