Translation
definitive, final
Word origin
From Latin definitivus, from definire, 'to set the boundary of', de- plus finire from finis, an end. The English word inherited the same sense and then grew a near-twin, definite, from the same root - which is exactly where the trouble starts.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- definitivus
- English cognates
- definitive, define, finish
Examples
; .
The contract is final; nobody can change it now.
.
We still do not have a final result.
, .
That is not a settled plan, just an idea.
A false friend in the narrow, dangerous way: it looks like the wrong English word rather than a different one. is definitive, not definite. It means final, settled, not to be revisited - the version after which there are no further versions.
English definite means clearly bounded or certain, and Esperanto splits that job between certa (sure, in no doubt), klara (unambiguous) and (specified, defined - and the grammatical term for the definite article, ).
So is the answer you will not be asked again; is the answer somebody is sure of. Two different claims, and swapping them can make you sound either evasive or immovable.
Fina overlaps and is often the plainer choice - fina . Reach for when you want to stress that nothing follows. It sits in the same family as the traps collected in Falsaj amikoj, where it turns up as the right rendering of English eventual.
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definitiva: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "definitiva" (definitive, final): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 39.