Meaning & use
determinant
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Meanings
nouncountable
A factor that has a strong effect in deciding how something turns out.
Grammar: Often followed by of: a determinant of success. Used in research writing.
Patterns
- a determinant of something
- a key determinant
Income is a major determinant of health outcomes.
The price of oil was the main determinant of the company's profit.
Researchers studied the genetic determinants of height.
nouncountablemathematics
A single number worked out from the entries of a square grid of numbers, used in solving equations and finding whether a matrix can be reversed.
Grammar: A mathematical term: the determinant of a matrix.
Patterns
- the determinant of a matrix
If the determinant of the matrix is zero, it has no inverse.
Students calculated the determinant of a two-by-two matrix.
The determinant tells us whether the system has a single solution.
Word forms
| plural | determinants |
|---|
Common combinations
- key determinant
- Location is a key determinant of house prices.
- social determinants
- Doctors study the social determinants of health.
- major determinant
- Diet is a major determinant of heart health.
- determinant of success
- Practice is a determinant of success in sport.
- calculate the determinant
- First, calculate the determinant of the matrix.
Synonyms and how they differ
- factor
- Factor is the everyday word for any contributing influence, while determinant implies one of the main, deciding ones.
- driver
- Driver suggests something that pushes change forward, whereas determinant suggests something that sets the result.
- cause
- Cause means it directly produces something, but a determinant may only help shape it.
- influence
- Influence can be weak or slight, while a determinant has a decisive effect.
Word family
- determine verb
- to decide or find out
- determination noun
- firmness of purpose, or the act of deciding
- determinate adjective
- definite and fixed
- indeterminate adjective
- not exactly known or fixed
Commonly confused: determinant or determination?
determinant vs determination
Determination means firm purpose, as in her determination to win. A determinant is a factor that decides an outcome, not a personal quality.
Practice
Economists describe education as a key ____ of lifetime earnings.
Choose one answer.
A determinant is a factor that helps decide an outcome, which fits earnings. Determination is persistence and detriment means harm, so neither fits with of lifetime earnings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “determinant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.