 |
| Date: | 1500-1600 |
| Language: | Old French |
| Origin: | acertainer, from certain |
| |||||||||
as‧cer‧tain
[intransitive and transitive]
[intransitive and transitive] formal to find out something : A postmortem was ordered to try to ascertain the cause of death.
A postmortem was ordered to try to ascertain the cause of death. ascertain whether/what/how etc Tests were conducted to ascertain whether pollution levels have dropped.
Tests were conducted to ascertain whether pollution levels have dropped. ascertain something from somebody/something You should ascertain the level of insurance cover from the car rental company.
You should ascertain the level of insurance cover from the car rental company. —ascertainable adverb
