Etimology
From Middle English determinen, from Old French determiner, French déterminer, from Latin determināre (“to bound, limit, prescribe, fix, determine”), from de + termināre (“to limit”), from terminus (“bound, limit, end”).
verb
determine (third-person singular simple present determines, present participle determining, simple past and past participle determined)
To set the boundaries or limits of.
To ascertain definitely; to figure out, find out, or conclude by analyzing, calculating, or investigating.
To fix the form or character of; to shape; to prescribe imperatively; to regulate; to settle.
To fix the course of; to impel and direct; with a remoter object preceded by to.
To bring to a conclusion, as a question or controversy; to settle authoritative or judicial sentence; to decide.
To resolve (to do something); to establish a fixed intention; to cause (something) to come to a conclusion or decision; to lead.
(logic) To define or limit by adding a differentia.
(law, otherwise obsolete) To bring to an end; to finish.
Examples
[God] hath determined the times before appointed.
The knowledge of men hitherto hath been determined by the view or sight.
Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.
The character of the soul is determined by the character of its God.
something divinely beautiful […] that at some time or other might influence or even determine her course of life
These dramas may appear purely internal but they are perhaps economically determined … when people think they are being so subtly inventive or creative they merely reflect society's general need for economic growth.
The news of his father's illness determined him to depart immediately.
The court has determined the cause.
I determined to go home at once.
If a lease is determined by notice, forfeiture or frustration, all incumbrances will normally end automatically with the determination of the lease and can therefore be ignored.
Now, where is he that will not stay so long / Till his friend sickness hath determined me?