- definition
- late 14c., "setting of boundaries," from O.Fr. definicion, from L. definitionem, noun of action from definire (see define). In logic, meaning "act of stating what something means" is from 1640s; meaning "a statement of the essential nature of something" is from late 14c.; special focus on words developed after c.1550. Meaning "degree of distinctness of the details in a picture" is from 1889.