Meaning of "describe" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD DESCRIBE

From Latin dēscrībere to copy off, write out, delineate, from de- + scrībere to write.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF DESCRIBE

describe  [dɪˈskraɪb]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DESCRIBE

Describe is a verb.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb describe in English.

WHAT DOES DESCRIBE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Description

Description is one of four rhetorical modes, along with exposition, argumentation, and narration. Each of the rhetorical modes is present in a variety of forms and each has its own purpose and conventions. The act of description may be related to that of definition. Description is also the fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars of a story.

Definition of describe in the English dictionary

The first definition of describe in the dictionary is to give an account or representation of in words. Other definition of describe is to pronounce or label. Describe is also to draw a line or figure, such as a circle.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO DESCRIBE

PRESENT

Present

I describe

you describe

he/she/it describes

we describe

you describe

they describe

Present continuous

I am describing

you are describing

he/she/it is describing

we are describing

you are describing

they are describing

Present perfect

I have described

you have described

he/she/it has described

we have described

you have described

they have described

Present perfect continuous

I have been describing

you have been describing

he/she/it has been describing

we have been describing

you have been describing

they have been describing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I described

you described

he/she/it described

we described

you described

they described

Past continuous

I was describing

you were describing

he/she/it was describing

we were describing

you were describing

they were describing

Past perfect

I had described

you had described

he/she/it had described

we had described

you had described

they had described

Past perfect continuous

I had been describing

you had been describing

he/she/it had been describing

we had been describing

you had been describing

they had been describing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will describe

you will describe

he/she/it will describe

we will describe

you will describe

they will describe

Future continuous

I will be describing

you will be describing

he/she/it will be describing

we will be describing

you will be describing

they will be describing

Future perfect

I will have described

you will have described

he/she/it will have described

we will have described

you will have described

they will have described

Future perfect continuous

I will have been describing

you will have been describing

he/she/it will have been describing

we will have been describing

you will have been describing

they will have been describing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would describe

you would describe

he/she/it would describe

we would describe

you would describe

they would describe

Conditional continuous

I would be describing

you would be describing

he/she/it would be describing

we would be describing

you would be describing

they would be describing

Conditional perfect

I would have describe

you would have describe

he/she/it would have describe

we would have describe

you would have describe

they would have describe

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been describing

you would have been describing

he/she/it would have been describing

we would have been describing

you would have been describing

they would have been describing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you describe
we let´s describe
you describe

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to describe

Past participle

described

Present Participle

describing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «DESCRIBE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «describe» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of describe

brand · call · characterize · chronicle · define · delineate · depict · detail · draw · dub · explain · express · illustrate · impart · narrate · outline · paint · portray · present · recite · recount · relate · report · set forth · set out · sketch · specify · tell · trace

TRANSLATION OF DESCRIBE

Find out the translation of describe to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of describe from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «describe» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 描述
• Translator English - Spanish: describir
• English: describe
• Translator English - Hindi: वर्णन
• Translator English - Arabic: يَصِفُ
• Translator English - Russian: описывать
• Translator English - Portuguese: descrever
• Translator English - Bengali: বর্ণনা করা
• Translator English - French: décrire
• Translator English - Malay: Terangkan
• Translator English - German: beschreiben
• Translator English - Japanese: 記述する
• Translator English - Korean: 묘사하다
• Translator English - Javanese: Njlentrehake
• Translator English - Vietnamese: mô tả
• Translator English - Tamil: விவரிக்க
• Translator English - Marathi: वर्णन करणे
• Translator English - Turkish: tanımlamak
• Translator English - Italian: descrivere
• Translator English - Polish: opisać
• Translator English - Ukrainian: описувати
• Translator English - Romanian: a descrie
• Translator English - Greek: περιγράφω
• Translator English - Afrikaans: beskryf
• Translator English - Swedish: beskriva
• Translator English - Norwegian: beskrive

10 QUOTES WITH «DESCRIBE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word describe.

1

Dante Alighieri

At this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe.

2

Aziz Ansari

I don't think you can describe your ideal girl. A big part of that is just meeting someone and really clicking with them and wanting to hang out with them all of the time.

3

Ugo Betti

'Mad' is a term we use to describe a man who is obsessed with one idea and nothing else.

4

Betty Buckley

The pure connecting factor is that those of us who describe ourselves as feminists want equal rights for all people.

5

Quentin Crisp

The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to plant their whole life in the hands of some other person. I would describe this method of searching for happiness as immature. Development of character consists solely in moving toward self-sufficiency.

6

David Crosby

Describing Woodstock as the 'big bang,' I think that's a great way to describe it, because the important thing about it wasn't how many people were there or that it was a lot of truly wonderful music that got played.

7

David Cross

If there are a couple of adjectives people use to describe me, anger is usually in there. I've never taken that as criticism. It's the way I naturally communicate. But I'm not faux-angry, like Lewis Black, or angry like a gun-toting crazy person. I'm just angry in a mild way - it's not like I'm going to do anything about it.

8

Richard M. Daley

I believe the way I describe the problems in Chicago is that it's a metropolitan area. I've said that everywhere. The uneducated child is not just my problem, it's the state's problem. It's also the federal government's problem.

9

Andrew Dominik

For me, the movie's always evolving as I'm doing it. I throw things in as we shoot, and I take things out as we go. I want to create a whole life and then select the pieces that best sort of describe it later, you know? So there's a lot of wastage when I make a film.

10

Charles Van Doren

Some of you read with me 40 years ago a portion of Aristotle's Ethics, a selection of passages that describe his idea of happiness. You may not remember too well.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DESCRIBE»

Discover the use of describe in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to describe and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Discourse on the Move: Using Corpus Analysis to Describe ...

Discourse on the Move is the first book-length exploration of how corpus-based methods can be used for discourse analysis, applied to the description of discourse organization.

Douglas Biber, Thomas Albin Upton, 2007

Library 2020: Today's Leading Visionaries Describe ...

Thinking about the future of libraries, librarianship and the work librarians do is as old as libraries themselves. (No doubt seminars were organized by the Alexandria Librarians Association on the future of the scroll and what to do about ...

Joseph Janes, 2013

Most Underappreciated: 50 Prominent Social Psychologists ...

Their stories are personal and touch on relationships, passion for ideas, and the emotional highs and lows of academic life. This book is a truly unique glimpse behind scenes of social psychology and the people who have advanced the field.

Robert Arkin, 2011

Introduction to Object ID: Guidelines for Making Records ...

The book provides suggestions for writing descriptions of objects and includes a brief discussion of five additional categories that some institutions opt to employ.

Robin Thornes, Henry Lie, 2000

Writing to Describe

Explains how to picture something with words and includes tips on using synonyms, making a poster, and writing a book report.

Jill Jarnow, 2006

Writing to Describe

Offers examples that illustrate descriptive writing and tips for brainstorming, writing the first draft, checking and refining, and sharing written work.

Denis E. McGuinness, Lauren Spencer, 2011

Describe the moment: a collection of literary works from ...

The illustrations are also done by the youthful participants in the 1998 Gallery 37 program. It was compiled and edited by Haki Madhubuti and Gendolyn Mitchell of Third World Press.

Haki R. Madhubuti, Gwendolyn Mitchell, 2000

Historical Account of the Substances Which Have Been Used to ...

Matthias Koops, a pioneering inventor of new processes for making paper, published this book in 1800.

Matthias Koops, 2010

National Survey to Describe the Workforce of Neonatal ...

Differences in unit-based and dedicated teams were assessed by chi-square and were significant in several areas. Dedicated teams more often required neonatal and pediatric specific training courses, (1, N = 335), chi2 = 83.833, p

Kristine A. Karlsen, 2007

Dimboxes, Epopts, and Other Quidams: Words to Describe ...

Gathers unusual epithets and coins humorous new words to describe particular types of people from acersecomics to zetetics

David Grambs, 1986

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DESCRIBE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term describe is used in the context of the following news items.

Ian Somerhalder, Jared Padalecki and More WB Stars Try to …

Those are the three words we'd use to describe this seriously epic video we're sharing with you, which finds all of your favorite WB stars from ... «E! Online, Jul 15»

Witnesses describe a high-stakes card game interrupted by gunfire

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Police are investigating a shooting in Central Austin on West Anderson Lane, near Lamar Boulevard. People inside the ... «KXAN.com, Jul 15»

Witnesses describe Monessen homicide

Sniffling and clutching a tissue, a Belle Vernon woman on Tuesday recalled for a Westmoreland County jury the night her friend was gunned ... «Tribune-Review, Jul 15»

Evacuees from Hwy 11 accident describe moments after explosion

Fairfield police are searching for Dewane Wooten, the suspect charged with attempted murder of a police officer. «WIAT 42, Jul 15»

911 recordings describe fiery crash on Interstate 26

In a series of 911 calls obtained from Spartanburg County Communications, frantic witnesses describe the fiery June 27 crash on Interstate 26 ... «Spartanburg Herald Journal, Jul 15»

TCRSB approves $72 million budget; describe cuts as 'devastating …

YARMOUTH – Tri-County Regional School Board members approved the board's budget at a July 7 meeting while using descriptions such as ... «Daily Business Buzz, Jul 15»

How would you describe yesterday's aroma?

I went with “a box of burned Barbie Hair,” because it had both the incinerated-follicle aroma and an odd note of plastic. What seemed odd was ... «Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jul 15»

Christina Aguilera Lyrics That Describe Your Relationship With Your …

What better way to honor that person — other than matching face tattoos — than with all the Christina Aguilera lyrics that perfectly describe your ... «Bustle, Jul 15»

FDA advisory panelists describe decision to recommend approval of …

Two of the editorial's authors, Dr. Walid Gellad and Kathryn Flynn, recommended the drug for approval while Dr. G. Caleb Alexander voted ... «Medical Marketing and Media, Jul 15»

'Star Wars' 7: Harrison Ford to Describe Han Solo in 'The Force …

The decision of "Star Wars" franchise to extent "The Force Awakens" trailer release has disappointed several fans. But they can expect a few ... «International Business Times, India Edition, Jul 15»