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deterministic - 3 dictionary results

de⋅ter⋅min⋅ism

[di-tur-muh-niz-uhm]
–noun
1. the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws.
2. the doctrine that all events, including human choices and decisions, have sufficient causes.

Origin:
1840–50; determine + -ism


de⋅ter⋅min⋅ist, noun, adjective
de⋅ter⋅min⋅is⋅tic, adjective
de⋅ter⋅min⋅is⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
de·ter·min·ism   (dĭ-tûr'mə-nĭz'əm)   
n.  The philosophical doctrine that every state of affairs, including every human event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedent states of affairs.
de·ter'min·ist n., de·ter'min·is'tic adj., de·ter'min·is'ti·cal·ly adv.

deterministic
1. Describes a system whose time evolution can be predicted exactly.
Contrast probabilistic.
2. Describes an algorithm in which the correct next step depends only on the current state. This contrasts with an algorithm involving backtracking where at each point there may be several possible actions and no way to chose between them except by trying each one and backtracking if it fails.
(1995-09-22)

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