ascertain

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He also wrote to England begging the Council to ascertain from the French ambassador whether these governors had authority to issue commissions of war, so that his frigates might be able to distinguish between the pirate and the lawful privateer.

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Definitions (12)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. transitive verb To discover with certainty, as through examination or experimentation. See Synonyms at discover.
  2. transitive verb Archaic To make certain, definite, and precise.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • From what I can ascertain, the former Mrs. Mosley felt no need to rake her ex-hubby over the coals. —  Doghouse Boxing News
  • "From what we've been able to ascertain, the city is powered by three Zero Point Modules." —  Wraithbait
  • He also wrote to England begging the Council to ascertain from the French ambassador whether these governors had authority to issue commissions of war, so that his frigates might be able to distinguish between the pirate and the lawful privateer. —  The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century
  • We shall then be enabled--by the aid of Comte's principle that the domains of investigation take rank in proportion to the complexity of their Phenomena--to ascertain, after a very brief examination, the place which History holds in the Scale, and how much claim it can lay to a Scientific character Comte closes the Hierarchy of the Positive Sciences by adding to the three which we have denominated Exact Sciences, Chemistry, Biology, Sociology, and La Morale_, in the order in which they are named, as indicated by the nature of the Phenomena with which they are concerned. —  The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 2, February, 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
  • They replied they did not know; but said we will soon ascertain, as we must scalp them as we go back. —  Great Indian Chief of the West Or, Life and Adventures of Black Hawk
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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ascertain:   ascertained
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English acertainen, to inform, from Old French acertener, ascertain- : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + certain, certain; see certain.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English and late Middle English ascertaine, assertaine, assartaine, -tayne, etc., with asser-, ascer-, in erroneous simulation of words like assent, ascend, etc., earlier Middle English acertainen, acerteinen, from Old French acertainer, acerteiner, make certain, from a, to, + certain, certain: see a- and certain. The word is thus etymo-logically a- + certain, and was so pronounced in early modern English
 

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/æsərˈteɪn/
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