determinant

adj : having the power or quality of deciding; "the crucial

experiment"; "cast the deciding vote"; "the

determinative (or determinant) battle" [syn: {crucial},

{deciding(a)}, {determinative}, {determining(a)}]

n 1: a determining or causal element or factor: "education is an

important determinant of one's outlook onlife" [syn: {determiner},

{determinative}, {determining factor}, {causal factor}]

2: a square matrix used to solve simultaneous equations