ascertain
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.as·cer·tain
transitive verb \ˌa-sər-ˈtān\Definition of ASCERTAIN
1
archaic : to make certain, exact, or precise
2
: to find out or learn with certainty
— as·cer·tain·able \-ˈtā-nə-bəl\ adjective
— as·cer·tain·ment \-ˈtān-mənt\ noun
Examples of ASCERTAIN
- The information can be ascertained by anyone with a computer.
- <was immediately able to ascertain that the girl was uncomfortable talking about her life at home>
- We look at digital media—images, audio and video—and we try to ascertain whether or not they've been manipulated. We use mathematical and computational techniques to detect alterations in them. —Claudia Dreifus, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2007
- Currently, an official trying to ascertain road damage in the aftermath of an earthquake might have to keep one eye on the TV news while listening to both radio traffic reports and the police scanner. Since most of these data are available in digital form, the software could take them all in, process them and present a report outlining the best evacuation routes. —Kevin Hogan, Technology Review, April 2002
- With an equation linking the money wage to prices, the degree of inflation could be ascertained. —Sidney Weintraub, Modern Economic Thought, (1977) 1993
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Origin of ASCERTAIN
Middle English acertainen to inform, give assurance to, from Anglo-French acerteiner, from a- (from Latin ad-) + certein, certain certain
First Known Use: 15th century
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