determiner

Plural: determiners

Noun

• an argument that is conclusive
• one of a limited class of noun modifiers that determine the referents of noun phrases
• a determining or causal element or factor
• Someone or something that determines, or helps to determine, something else.
• A factor that defines something, or one among several that define it.
• Someone or something that determines, or helps to determine, something else.
• Someone or something (especially a sentient agent) that determines; a decider of a disposition.
• A member of a class of words functioning in a noun phrase to identify or distinguish a referent without describing or modifying it.
• A dependent function in a noun phrase that marks it 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.

Examples

• Definite articles, indefinite articles, and cardinal numbers acting as quantifiers are types of determiners.
• He is the determiner [usually referring to God (in theological contexts) and job roles (in administrative contexts)]
• In quality management, the determiners of quality sometimes differ across use cases.
• In the sentence "Many people voted for him," the word many is a determiner.
• The software is the determiner if no input is given before the prompt times out.
• Who is the determiner? [administratively or theologically]

Synonyms

causal factor, clincher, determinant, determinative, determining factor

Related Words

article, demonstrative