decide

From Middle English deciden, from Old French decider, from Latin dēcīdere, infinitive of dēcīdō (“cut off, decide”), from dē (“down from”) + caedō (“cut”).

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsaɪd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪd

decide (third-person singular simple present decides, present participle deciding, simple past and past participle decided)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle

   The election will be decided on foreign policies.

   We must decide our next move.

   Her last-minute goal decided the game.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

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

   • 1987 December 21, Richard Nixon, Letters to Trump, Winning Team Publishing, published 2023, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 10:

     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 you decide to run for office you will be a winner!

2. (intransitive) to make a judgment, especially after deliberation

   You must decide between good and evil.

   I have decided that it is healthier to walk to work.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 20:40:

     So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

3. (transitive) to cause someone to come to a decision
   • 1920, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Three Gables, Norton, published 2005, page 1537:

     It decides me 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, decides us from the rest.

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

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

• de-iced, deiced

decide

1. third-person singular present indicative of decidir

From decidi +‎ -e.

• IPA^(key): /deˈt͡side/
• Rhymes: -ide

decide

1. decisively
2. decidedly

decide

1. inflection of decidir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

decide

1. present of decider
2. imperative of decider

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

decide

1. third-person singular present indicative of decidere

• decedi

dēcīde

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēcīdō

decide

1. Alternative form of deciden

decide

1. inflection of decidir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Borrowed from French décider, from Latin dēcidō.

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a decide (third-person singular present decide, past participle decis) 3rd conj.

1. to decide

   Synonym: hotărî

• decizie

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

decide

1. inflection of decidir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative