I. -nənt adjective
Etymology: Latin determinant-, determinans, present participle of determinare to limit, determine
: serving to determine : determinative
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a fact, circumstance, or situation which identifies or aids diagnosis or determines the nature of something or which fixes, determines, or conditions an outcome or issue : factor
there is no eternal determinant of obscenity, lasciviousness, indecency … the meanings of these terms change with the times — J.T.Farrell
a semiconsciousness that education is the most important function of the state and the chief determinant of its way of life — Stephen Duggan
2. : a determining bachelor of arts
3. : a square array of numbers with which is associated a value that is the algebraic sum of all of the different products that can be formed by taking as factors an element from each column in succession, each one from a different row, the signs of the products being positive or negative depending upon whether the number of interchanges in the row indices necessary to restore them to natural order is even or odd
4. logic : a qualifying adjective or phrase : a mark or attribute distinguishing some class which falls under a more general concept : differentia
5.
a. : a hypothetical aggregate of biophores conceived as comparable to the gene of more recent biological theory
b. : gene ; broadly : a comparable but subordinate agent (as a plasmagene or plastogene)
6. : radical 2c
7. : determinative II 3
8. archeol : a trait or complex that is diagnostic of a cultural unit (as a component, aspect, phase)
9. : one of the chemical groupings that together determine the specific reactivity of an antigen or antibody
Synonyms: see cause