as·cer·tain

(ăs′ər-tān′)

tr.v. as·cer·tained, as·cer·tain·ing, as·cer·tains

1. To discover with certainty, as through examination or experimentation. See Synonyms at discover.

2. Archaic To make certain, definite, and precise.

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

as′cer·tain′a·ble adj.

as′cer·tain′a·ble·ness n.

as′cer·tain′a·bly adv.

as′cer·tain′ment n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

ascertainment

noun

Something that has been discovered:

discovery, find, finding, strike.

Translations

διακρίβωση

accertamento constatazione

ascertainment

[ˌæsəˈteɪnmənt] N → determinación f

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References in classic literature

The suffering, whether of martyr or victim, which belongs to every historical advance of mankind, is represented in this way in every town, and by hundreds of obscure hearths; and we need not shrink from this comparison of small things with great; for does not science tell us that its highest striving is after the ascertainment of a unity which shall bind the smallest things with the greatest?

View in context

In addition, the higher observed incidence in Oregon may have been a result of greater case ascertainment because hospital discharge data were used rather than physician and laboratory reports.

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Projects focusing on any phase of the gene discovery process, from initial patient ascertainment to positional cloning, are appropriate.

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These changes were implemented to improve the potential usefulness of birth certificates for timely and systematic population-based ascertainment of FAS and other abnormal conditions of the newborn (3).

Birth certificates as a source for fetal alcohol syndrome case ascertainment - Georgia, 1989-1992

Petrova, ex MP from Burgas Region, informed she made the decision after she saw her name in the infamous notebook of the former Chair of Bulgaria's Commission on Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest (CPACI), Filip Zlatanov.

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The city of Worcester has had a two-year ascertainment period.

New cable television contract must preserve local access

Although administrative controls instituted relatively late in this transmission chain reduced the number of contacts for some SARS patients, we cannot exclude the possibility that ascertainment of contacts for patients who did not transmit SARS was incomplete.

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(1) would lead to imprecision in case ascertainment and hence a minimal estimate of the risk.

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Surveillance for pregnancy-related deaths based only on ascertainment through death certificates underestimates actual deaths (1-7).