decide

See also:décideanddécidé

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishdeciden,fromOld Frenchdecider,fromLatindēcīdere,infinitive ofdēcīdō(“cut off, decide”),fromdē(“down from”)+caedō(“cut”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/dɪˈsaɪd/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-aɪd

Verb

decide(third-person singular simple presentdecides,present participledeciding,simple past and past participledecided)

1. (transitive,intransitive)toresolve(acontest,problem,dispute,etc.); tochoose,determine,orsettle

   The election will bedecidedon foreign policies.

   We mustdecideour next move.

   Her last-minute goaldecidedthe game.

   • 1591(date written),William Shakespeare,“The First Part of Henry the Sixt”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene i]:

     The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; / Betwixt ourselves let usdecideit then.

   • 1987December 21,Richard Nixon,Letters to Trump,Winning Team Publishing, published2023,→ISBN,→OCLC,page10:

     I did not see the program, but Mrs. Nixon told me that you were great on the Donahue Show.
     As you can imagine, she is an expert on politics and she predicts that whenever youdecideto run for office you will be a winner!

2. (intransitive)to make ajudgment,especially afterdeliberation

   You mustdecidebetween good and evil.

   I havedecidedthat it is healthier to walk to work.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible,[…](King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker,[…],→OCLC,1 Kings20:40:

     So shall thy judgment be; thyself hastdecidedit.

3. (transitive)to cause someone to come to adecision
   • 1920,Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,The Adventure of the Three Gables,Norton, published2005,page1537:

     Itdecidesme to look into the matter, for if it is worth anyone's while to take so much trouble, there must be something in it.

4. (obsolete)to cut off; to separate
   • 1642,Thomas Fuller,The Holy State,Cambridge, Cambridgeshire:[…]Roger Daniel for John Williams,[…],→OCLC:

     Our seat denies us traffic here; / The sea, too near,decidesus from the rest.

Usage notes

• This is acatenativeverb that takes theto infinitive.SeeAppendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• make up one's mind
• choose
• determine
• pick

Derived terms

• decidability
• decidable
• decidement
• decide on
• decide upon
• decidophobia
• misdecide
• predecide
• redecide
• undecide

Related terms

• decider
• decision
• decisive

Translations

to resolve or settle

• Afrikaans:besluit(af)
• Albanian:vendos(sq),danoj(dialectal)
• Arabic:قَرَّرَ(qarrara),صَمَّمَ(ṣammama)
• Armenian:որոշել(hy)(orošel),վճռել(hy)(včṙel)
• Asturian:decidir
• Azerbaijani:qərar vermək
• Belarusian:раша́цьimpf(rašácʹ),рашы́цьpf(rašýcʹ)
• Bengali:স্থির করা(sthir kora)
• Bulgarian:реша́вам(bg)impf(rešávam),реша́(bg)pf(rešá),разреша́вам(bg)impf(razrešávam)
• Burmese:သန္နိဌာန်ချ(sanni.htanhkya.),ဆုံးဖြတ်(my)(hcum:hprat)
• Catalan:decidir(ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Giải quyết／Giải quyết(gaai²kyut³)

  Mandarin:Giải quyết／Giải quyết(zh)(jiějué)

• Czech:rozhodovat(cs)impf,rozhodnout(cs)pf
• Danish:afgøre,beslutte(da)
• Dutch:beslissen(nl),besluiten(nl)
• Esperanto:decidi
• Estonian:otsustama
• Faroese:gera av
• Finnish:ratkaista(fi)
• French:décider(fr)
• Galician:decidir(gl)
• Georgian:გადაწყვეტა(gadac̣q̇veṭa),გადაჭრა(gadač̣ra)
• German:entscheiden(de),beschließen(de),entschließen(de)
• Greek:αποφασίζω(el)(apofasízo),κρίνω(el)(kríno)

  Ancient Greek:διακρίνω(diakrínō)

• Hawaiian:hoʻoholo
• Hebrew:החליט(he)(hekhlít),הכריע(hikhría)
• Hindi:निर्णय करना(nirṇay karnā),फ़ैसला करना(faislā karnā)
• Hungarian:dönt(hu),eldönt(hu),elhatároz(hu)
• Icelandic:ákveða
• Ido:decidar(io),decidigar(io)
• Interlingua:decider(ia)
• Irish:cinn(ga)
• Italian:decidere(it),stabilire(it)
• Japanese:Giải quyết する(ja)(かいけつする, kaiketsu suru),Quyết める(ja)(きめる, kimeru)
• Kazakh:шығару(şyğaru)
• Khmer:សម្រេចចិត្ត(sɑmrɨc cət),តាំងចិត្ត(taŋ cət)
• Korean:해결하다(ko)(haegyeolhada),정하다(ko)(jeonghada)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:biryar dan(ku),qerar dan(ku)

• Kyrgyz:чечүү(ky)(cecüü),чыгаруу(ky)(cıgaruu)
• Ladino:desidar,dechidir,darkarar
• Lao:ຕັດສິນໃຈ(tat sin chai)
• Latin:decido,statuo
• Latvian:lemt(lv)
• Lithuanian:nuspręsti
• Livonian:loptātõ,loptāntõ
• Lushootseed:ʔiw
• Macedonian:одлучи(odluči)
• Malay:putus(ms)
• Malayalam:തീരുമാനിക്കുക(ml)(tīrumānikkuka)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:beslutte(no)

• Old English:ġesċēadan
• Oromo:murteessuu
• Persian:تصمیم گرفتن(phát)(tasmim gereftan)
• Polish:decydować(pl)impf,zdecydować(pl)pf,postanowić(pl)pf
• Portuguese:decidir(pt)
• Romanian:decide(ro)
• Russian:реша́ть(ru)impf(rešátʹ),реши́ть(ru)pf(rešítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic:cuir ro
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:одлу́чити

  Roman:odlúčiti(sh)

• Slovak:rozhodovaťimpf,rozhodnúťpf
• Slovene:odločiti
• Spanish:decidir(es),resolver(es)
• Swedish:besluta(sv),bestämma(sv)
• Tajik:тасмим гирифтан(tasmim giriftan‍)
• Thai:ตัดสินใจ(th)(dtàt sĭn jai),ตัดสิน(th)(dtàt sĭn)
• Turkish:karar vermek(tr)
• Turkmen:ýüregne düwmek,ýüregine düwmek
• Ukrainian:вирі́шуватиimpf(vyríšuvaty),ви́рішитиpf(výrišyty)
• Urdu:فیصلہ کرنا(faislā karnā)
• Uzbek:qasd qilmoq
• Vietnamese:quyết định(vi)
• Yiddish:באַשליסן(bashlisn)
• Zazaki:qerar dayen

give judgement

• Arabic:قَرَّرَ(qarrara)
• Asturian:decidir
• Belarusian:раша́цьimpf(rašácʹ),рашы́цьpf(rašýcʹ)
• Bulgarian:реша́вам(bg)impf(rešávam),разреша́вам(bg)(razrešávam)
• Catalan:decidir(ca)
• Cherokee:ᏕᎫᎪᏗᎭ(degugodiha)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Quyết định／Quyết định(kyut³ding⁶)

  Mandarin:Quyết định／Quyết định(zh)(juédìng)

• Czech:rozhodnout(cs),rozhodnout(cs)se
• Danish:afgøre
• Faroese:gera av
• Finnish:päättää(fi),ratkaista(fi),valita(fi)
• French:décider(fr)
• Galician:decidir(gl)
• German:entscheiden(de),beschließen(de),festsetzen(de)
• Gothic:𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽(andþagkjan)
• Greek:αποφασίζω(el)(apofasízo)

  Ancient:βούλομαι(boúlomai)

• Hebrew:הכריע(hikhría)
• Hungarian:dönt(hu),döntést hoz(hu)
• Ingrian:meinata,duumata,reknata
• Italian:decretare(it),deliberare(it),pronunciarsi(it)
• Japanese:Quyết める(ja)(きめる, kimeru),Quyết する(ja)(けっする, kessuru),Quyết định する(ja)(けっていする, kettei suru)
• Korean:결정하다(ko)(gyeoljeonghada),정하다(ko)(jeonghada)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:biryar dan(ku),qerar dan(ku)

• Latin:decido
• Latvian:lemt(lv)
• Malayalam:തീരുമാനിക്കുക(ml)(tīrumānikkuka)
• Persian:تصمیم گرفتن(phát)(tasmim gereftan)
• Polish:zdecydować(pl)
• Portuguese:decidir(pt)
• Romanian:decide(ro)
• Russian:реша́ть(ru)impf(rešátʹ),реши́ть(ru)pf(rešítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic:suidhich air
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:одлу́чити

  Roman:odlúčiti(sh)

• Spanish:decidir(es)
• Swedish:avgöra(sv)
• Turkish:karar vermek(tr)
• Ukrainian:вирі́шуватиimpf(vyríšuvaty),ви́рішитиpf(výrišyty)
• Yiddish:באַשליסן(bashlisn)

to cause someone to come to a decision

• Czech:(uses dependent clause)
• Danish:få en person til atbesluttesig
• Finnish:ratkaista(fi)
• Italian:convincere(it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:biryar pê dan

• Latin:statuo,decerno,constituo(la),edico,sancio
• Romanian:convinge(ro)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto:^{(pleaseverify)}decidi
• Korean:^{(pleaseverify)}결정하다(ko)(gyeoljeonghada),^{(pleaseverify)}~기로 하다(~giro hada),^{(pleaseverify)}마음을 먹다(ma'eumeul meokda),^{(pleaseverify)}정하다(ko)(jeonghada)
• Romanian:^{(pleaseverify)}decide(ro)
• Spanish:^{(pleaseverify)}decidir(es)
• Telugu:^{(pleaseverify)}నిర్ణయించు(te)(nirṇayiñcu)

Anagrams

• de-iced,deiced

Asturian

Verb

decide

1. third-personsingularpresentindicativeofdecidir

Esperanto

Etymology

Fromdecidi+‎-e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/deˈt͡side/
• Rhymes:-ide

Adverb

decide

1. decisively
2. decidedly

Galician

Verb

decide

1. inflection ofdecidir:
   1. third-personsingularpresentindicative
   2. second-personsingularimperative

Interlingua

Verb

decide

1. presentofdecider
2. imperativeofdecider

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/deˈt͡ʃi.de/
• Rhymes:-ide
• Hyphenation:de‧cì‧de

Verb

decide

1. third-personsingularpresentindicativeofdecidere

Anagrams

• decedi

Latin

Verb

dēcīde

1. second-personsingularpresentactiveimperativeofdēcīdō

Middle English

Verb

decide

1. Alternative form ofdeciden

Portuguese

Verb

decide

1. inflection ofdecidir:
   1. third-personsingularpresentindicative
   2. second-personsingularimperative

Romanian

Etymology

BorrowedfromFrenchdécider,fromLatindēcidō.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

a decide(third-person singular presentdecide,past participledecis)3rd conj.

1. todecide

   Synonym:hotărî

Conjugation

conjugation ofdecide(third conjugation,past participle in -s)

infinitive			adecide
gerund			decizând
past participle			decis
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	decid	decizi	decide	decidem	decideți	decid
	imperfect	decideam	decideai	decidea	decideam	decideați	decideau
	simple perfect	decisei	deciseși	decise	deciserăm	deciserăți	deciseră
	pluperfect	decisesem	deciseseși	decisese	deciseserăm	deciseserăți	deciseseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	sădecid	sădecizi	sădecidă	sădecidem	sădecideți	sădecidă
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		decide			decideți
	negative		nudecide			nudecideți

Related terms

• decizie

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):(Spain)/deˈθide/[d̪eˈθi.ð̞e]
• IPA^(key):(Latin America, Philippines)/deˈside/[d̪eˈsi.ð̞e]
• Rhymes:-ide
• Syllabification:de‧ci‧de

Verb

decide

1. inflection ofdecidir:
   1. third-personsingularpresentindicative
   2. second-personsingularimperative