determinant

noun de·ter·mi·nant \ di-ˈtər-mə-nənt \

Updated on: 8 Nov 2017

Definition of determinant

1 :an element that identifies or determines the nature of something or that fixes or conditions an outcome

education level as a determinant of income

2 mathematics :a square array of numbers bordered on the left and right by a vertical line and having a value equal to the algebraic sum of all possible products where the number of factors in each product is the same as the number of rows or columns, each factor in a given product is taken from a different row and column, and the sign of a product is positive or negative depending upon whether the number of permutations necessary to place the indices representing each factor's position in its row or column in the order of the natural numbers is odd or even

3 genetics :gene

the determinant of the sickle-cell trait

4 biology :epitope

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determinantal

play \-ˌtər-mə-ˈnan-tᵊl\ adjective

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Recent Examples of determinant from the Web

Research from AllianceBernstein found that after the number of cars a company sells, currency effects are the next biggest determinant of the auto industry’s earnings.

— mike bird, WSJ, "Dollar Deepens Dive as Caution on Currency Grows," 8 Sep. 2017
The surest determinants of who gets executed are not the atrocity of the crime but arbitrary things like the resources of the defendant, the race of the victim — and in this case, the zip code in which the crime occurred.

— shane claiborne, Time, "A Black Man Convicted By a Racist Juror Is About to Be Executed," 21 Sep. 2017
Finally, the opinion entrenches the rather nonsensical notion that location of data is the exclusive determinant of whether the government can access sought-after data.

— jennifer daskal, Slate Magazine, "Congress Needs to Fix Our Outdated Email Privacy Law," 26 Jan. 2017
But for scientists, the key determinant of hurricane intensity is central pressure—the extent to which a storm’s center is lower than the Earth’s normal sea-level pressure of 1013.25 millibars.

— eric berger, Ars Technica, "A rare, destructive hurricane is coming to Florida today," 10 Sep. 2017
The rising role of intellectual property in today’s business means human capital has become the biggest determinant of business success.

— alan murray, Fortune, "Amazon's Beauty Pageant — CEO Daily, Monday, 16th October," 16 Oct. 2017
Investing in health upstream by helping vulnerable older individuals meet their basic needs, such as food, and addressing key determinants of health results in lower healthcare utilization and better health.

— matthew maughan, jd, Philly.com, "The road to better health care for seniors may start in their stomachs," 26 Sep. 2017
Jose Vilson, a New York City math teacher, says educators have known for years that out-of-school factors like access to food and healthcare are usually bigger determinants for societal success than in-school factors.

— rachel m. cohen, The Atlantic, "Education Isn't the Key to a Good Income," 26 Sep. 2017
The next year is likely to see the final defeat of ISIS and national elections that will be crucial as both bellwether and determinant of Iraq’s future course.

— kenneth m. pollack, National Review, "Will America Finally Do the Right Thing in Iraq?," 11 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'determinant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.