Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “overdetermined” come from?

Overdetermined comes from Middle English over- combined with determined, with over- descending from Old English ofer-, Proto-Germanic uber, and Proto-Indo-European upér and upo, meaning "over" or "above."

overdetermined (English): Having more constraints or causes than necessary...

Definitions

  1. Having more constraints or causes than necessary...

Ancestry of “overdetermined”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishoverdetermineTo give too many constraints, so that no solution...
2EnglishdetermineTo set the boundaries or limits of; To ascertain...
3Middle Englishdeterminen—
4Old Frenchdeterminer—
5Latindēterminare—
6Latinterminarepresent active infinitive of terminō;...
7LatinTerminus—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanter-tender, weak; young creature
9Italiantermineend, close; limit, term, date, time; term, word
10Latinterminusa boundary, limit, end
11Proto-Italictermenos—
12Proto-Indo-Europeantérmn̥boundary, end
Every word from Proto-Indo-European térmn̥ →