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describe

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology

From Middle English descriven, from Old French descrivre, from Latin dēscrībō (“I copy off, transcribe, sketch off, describe in painting or writing”), from dē (“off”) + scrībō (“write”); see scribe and shrive. Displaced native Old English āmearcian.

Pronunciation

Verb

describe (third-person singular simple present describes, present participle describing, simple past and past participle described)

  1. (transitive) To represent in words.
    The feeling is difficult to describe, but not unpleasant.
    The geographer describes countries and cities.
    Several witnesses describe seeing lights in the sky that night.
    • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
      […] his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve. Stiff-rumped, that's what he was, always rubbing the rust, or riding grub, like he had been for months past.
    • 2014 November 2, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in The Guardian:
      Yet the truth is that City would probably have been coasting by that point if the referee, Michael Oliver, had not turned down three separate penalties, at least two of which could be accurately described as certainties.
    • 2024 January 27, Eliana Bollati, “Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunner smashes two world records in just two days”, in Dexerto‎:
      Mae, who describes herself on Patreon as a 20-year-old university student from Canada, holds several world records for Baldur’s Gate 3 speedruns already — including her insane 4:15 any% speedrun.
    • 2024 August 28, John Miller and Sabrina Shulman, “FBI discovered a DHS document describing improvised explosive devices during investigation of Trump’s would-be assassin”, in CNN‎:
      Among the documents Donald Trump’s would-be-assassin studied while formulating his plans for an attack on the former president was a public document from the Department of Homeland Security, describing different kinds of improvised explosive devices and the number of explosives needed to inflict casualties over certain distances, a senior law enforcement official told CNN.
    • 2024 September 9, Katie Lobosco, “Fact check: Trump and Vance keep falsely describing how tariffs work”, in CNN‎:
      Former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance continue to falsely describe how one of their major policy proposals, across-the-board tariffs, would work.
  2. (transitive) To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out.
    to describe a circle by the compasses;   a torch waved about the head in such a way as to describe a circle
    • 1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans:
      Uncas described an arc in the water with his own blade, and as the canoe passed swiftly on, Chingachgook recovered his paddle, and flourishing it on high, he gave the war-whoop of the Mohicans.
    • 1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 146:
      His body was contracted and bent towards them, and described an undulatory movement like that of a worm writhing.
  3. (transitive, mathematics) To give rise to a geometrical structure.
    The function describes a very complex surface.
  4. (transitive, taxonomy) To introduce a new taxon to science by explaining its characteristics and particularly how it differs from other taxa.
    The fungus was first described by a botanist.
  5. (obsolete) To distribute into parts, groups, or classes; to mark off; to class.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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

Further reading

Anagrams

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Galician

Verb

describe

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

Latin

Verb

dēscrībe

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēscrībō

Scots

Etymology

From English describe.

Verb

describe (third-person singular simple present describes, present participle describin, simple past describit, past participle describit)

  1. to describe

Spanish

Verb

describe

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

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