ASCERTAIN • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Ascertain

Translators

Dictionaries

Courses

Other

Home

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/ˌæsərtˈeɪn/ Listen

verb

Ascertain v. t. (past & past part. ascertained; pres. part. ascertaining)

To render (a person) certain; to cause to feel certain; to make confident; to assure; to apprise. (Obs.) "When the blessed Virgin was so ascertained." "Muncer assured them that the design was approved of by Heaven, and that the Almighty had in a dream ascertained him of its effects."

To make (a thing) certain to the mind; to free from obscurity, doubt, or change; to make sure of; to fix; to determine. (Archaic) "The divine law... ascertaineth the truth." "The very deferring (of his execution) shall increase and ascertain the condemnation." "The ministry, in order to ascertain a majority... persuaded the queen to create twelve new peers." "The mildness and precision of their laws ascertained the rule and measure of taxation."

To find out or learn for a certainty, by trial, examination, or experiment; to get to know; as, to ascertain the weight of a commodity, or the purity of a metal. "He was there only for the purpose of ascertaining whether a descent on England was practicable."

See images of 'Ascertain'

Etymology of 'Ascertain'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Ascertain" Quotes from Famous Books

... these histories were first received and believed, the unreasonableness of insisting upon the belief of these accounts will appear aggravated. What was the character of the early Gentile Christians? This we can ascertain from only two sources—the writings of their leaders, and those of their heathen contemporaries. According to the latter they were very weak and credulous. The primitive Christians were perpetually reproached for their gross credulity by all ...

— Letter to the Reverend Mr. Cary • George English

... portion of this large sum can only have been obtained by a loan from the bank and by bons de tresor (exchequer bills). What the proportion between the bank loan and the bons de tresor in circulation is I am unable to ascertain. M. Picard, like all finance ministers, groans daily over the cost of the prolongation of the siege, and it certainly appears a very doubtful question whether France will really benefit by Paris living at ...

— Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris • Henry Labouchere

... the conversation in the church. There were different conjectures to be made. Mlle. d'Arency may have made that surprising request merely to convince me that she did not love De Noyard, and intending, subsequently, to withdraw it; or it may have sprung from a caprice, a desire to ascertain how far I was at her bidding,—women have, thoughtlessly, set men such tasks from mere vanity, lacking the sympathy to feel how precious to its owner is any human life other than their own;—or she may have had some substantial reason to desire his death, something to ...

— An Enemy To The King • Robert Neilson Stephens

... by his wisdom and upheld by his providence, presume to wish such order troubled for my sake? Nor do I ask of him the power of doing righteousness; why ask for what he has given me? Has he not bestowed on me conscience to love what is good, reason to ascertain it, freedom to choose it? If I do ill, I have no excuse; I do it because I will it. To pray to him to change my will, is to seek from him what he seeks from me; it is to wish no longer to be human, it is to wish something other than what is, it is to wish disorder and evil."[343] We may admire both ...

— Rousseau - Volumes I. and II. • John Morley

... part. In water pressure machines loss does not occur from these causes, on account of the incompressibility of the liquid, but the frictions of the parts are the principal causes of loss of power. It would be advisable to ascertain whether, as regards this point, high or low pressures are the most advantageous. Theoretical considerations would lead the author to imagine that for a piston machine low pressures are preferable. In conclusion, the following table gives the efficiencies of a Girard turbine, constructed by Messrs. ...

— Scientific American Supplement No. 275 • Various

More quotes...