Other forms: defined, defines, defining
To define is to say exactly what a word or an idea means. Define the term, hard to define, define your goals.
A good definition draws a boundary — the Latin means to set a limit — so it must exclude as well as include, and one that fits everything defines nothing. Defining moment means one that shows what somebody really is. Note definition and definite beside it.
1verbdefineTo say exactly what a word or idea means.
“It's hard to define exactly what makes a joke funny.”
define is an explaining.
Latin definire means to set a limit, from de- plus finis, an end or boundary. Finish and final are relatives.
Latin
dēfīniō — limit, settle, define
Old French
definer
Middle English
definen
English, today
define
Built from
From Middle English definen, from Old French definer, variant of definir, from Latin dēfīniō (“limit, settle, define”), from dē + fīniō (“set a limit, bound, end”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA