decide

See also: décide, and décidé

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsaɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪd

Verb

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.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix: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: раша́ць impf (rašácʹ), рашы́ць pf (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: 解決／解决 (gaai² kyut³)

  Mandarin: 解決／解决 (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: 解決する (ja) (かいけつする, kaiketsu suru), 決める (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, dar karar
• 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 (fa) (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: rozhodovať impf, rozhodnúť pf
• 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: вирі́шувати impf (vyríšuvaty), ви́рішити pf (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: раша́ць impf (rašácʹ), рашы́ць pf (rašýcʹ)
• Bulgarian: реша́вам (bg) impf (rešávam), разреша́вам (bg) (razrešávam)
• Catalan: decidir (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏕᎫᎪᏗᎭ (degugodiha)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 決定／决定 (kyut³ ding⁶)

  Mandarin: 決定／决定 (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: 決める (ja) (きめる, kimeru), 決する (ja) (けっする, kessuru), 決定する (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 (fa) (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: вирі́шувати impf (vyríšuvaty), ви́рішити pf (výrišyty)
• Yiddish: באַשליסן (bashlisn)

to cause someone to come to a decision

• Czech: (uses dependent clause)
• Danish: få en person til at beslutte sig
• 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 at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

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

Anagrams

• de-iced, deiced

Asturian

Verb

decide

1. third-person singular present indicative of decidir

Esperanto

Etymology

From decidi +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

decide

1. decisively
2. decidedly

Galician

Verb

decide

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

Interlingua

Verb

decide

1. present of decider
2. imperative of decider

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Verb

decide

1. third-person singular present indicative of decidere

Anagrams

• decedi

Latin

Verb

dēcīde

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēcīdō

Middle English

Verb

decide

1. Alternative form of deciden

Portuguese

Verb

decide

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French décider, from Latin dēcidō.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

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

1. to decide

   Synonym: hotărî

Conjugation

    conjugation of decide (third conjugation, past participle in -s)

infinitive			a decide
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	să decid	să decizi	să decidă	să decidem	să decideți	să decidă
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		decide			decideți
	negative		nu decide			nu decideți

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