The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Determination \De*ter`mi*na"tion\, n. [L. determinatio boundary,
   end: cf. F. d['e]termination.]
   1. The act of determining, or the state of being determined.
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   2. Bringing to an end; termination; limit.
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            A speedy determination of that war.   --Ludlow.
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   3. Direction or tendency to a certain end; impulsion.
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            Remissness can by no means consist with a constant
            determination of the will . . . to the greatest
            apparent good.                        --Locke.
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   4. The quality of mind which reaches definite conclusions;
      decision of character; resoluteness.
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            He only is a well-made man who has a good
            determination.                        --Emerson.
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   5. The state of decision; a judicial decision, or ending of
      controversy.
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   6. That which is determined upon; result of deliberation;
      purpose; conclusion formed; fixed resolution.
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            So bloodthirsty a determination to obtain
            convictions.                          --Hallam.
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   7. (Med.) A flow, rush, or tendency to a particular part; as,
      a determination of blood to the head.
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   8. (Physical Sciences) The act, process, or result of any
      accurate measurement, as of length, volume, weight,
      intensity, etc.; as, the determination of the ohm or of
      the wave length of light; the determination of the salt in
      sea water, or the oxygen in the air.
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   9. (Logic)
      (a) The act of defining a concept or notion by giving its
          essential constituents.
      (b) The addition of a differentia to a concept or notion,
          thus limiting its extent; -- the opposite of
          generalization.
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   10. (Nat. Hist.) The act of determining the relations of an
       object, as regards genus and species; the referring of
       minerals, plants, or animals, to the species to which
       they belong; classification; as, I am indebted to a
       friend for the determination of most of these shells.

   Syn: Decision; conclusion; judgment; purpose; resolution;
        resolve; firmness. See Decision.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

determination
    n 1: the act of determining the properties of something, usually
         by research or calculation; "the determination of molecular
         structures" [syn: determination, finding]
    2: the quality of being determined to do or achieve something;
       firmness of purpose; "his determination showed in his every
       movement"; "he is a man of purpose" [syn: determination,
       purpose]
    3: a position or opinion or judgment reached after
       consideration; "a decision unfavorable to the opposition";
       "his conclusion took the evidence into account"; "satisfied
       with the panel's determination" [syn: decision,
       determination, conclusion]
    4: deciding or controlling something's outcome or nature; "the
       determination of grammatical inflections"
    5: the act of making up your mind about something; "the burden
       of decision was his"; "he drew his conclusions quickly" [syn:
       decision, determination, conclusion]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

303 Moby Thesaurus words for "determination":
   absolute indication, accomplishment, acid test, action, aim,
   allocation, ambition, animus, answer, appetence, appetency,
   appetite, appraisal, appraisement, approximation, ascertaining,
   ascertainment, aspiration, assay, assessment, assignment, assize,
   assizement, assurance, attribution, award, balkiness, bigotry,
   blank determination, bounding, bringing to light, brouillon,
   bullheadedness, burden of proof, calculation, casual discovery,
   catching, certification, chance discovery, check, checking, choice,
   circling-in, circumscribing, circumscription, clearing up,
   collation, command, commitment, computation, conation, conatus,
   conclusion, conclusive evidence, condemnation, confirmation,
   consideration, constancy, correction, counsel, cracking, criterion,
   crucial test, crucible, damning evidence, decidedness,
   decipherment, decision, decisiveness, decoding, decree, dedication,
   definiteness, definition, delimitation, deliverance, demarcation,
   demonstration, denomination, denouement, desideration, desideratum,
   design, designation, desire, detection, determinateness,
   determinedness, determining, devotion, diagnosis, dictum,
   disclosure, discovery, discretion, disentanglement, disposition,
   distinguishment, docimasy, doggedness, dogmatism, doom,
   earnestness, effect, effort, encincture, end, end result, endeavor,
   ensuring, espial, essay, establishment, estimate, estimation,
   evaluation, excavation, exertion, exhumation, explanation,
   exposure, fanaticism, fancy, feeling out, find, finding,
   finding out, finding-out, firmness, first draft, fixed mind,
   fixed purpose, fixing, fortitude, free choice, free will, function,
   gauging, grit, guts, hardheadedness, headstrongness, idea,
   inclination, inclusion-exclusion, incontrovertible evidence,
   indisputable evidence, inflexible will, instrumentation,
   intendment, intent, intention, interpretation, intolerance,
   invention, ironclad proof, issue, judgement, kiteflying, liking,
   locating, location, lucky strike, lust, meaning, measure,
   measurement, measuring, mensuration, metric system, mind, motive,
   mulishness, nisus, obduracy, objective, obstinacy, obstinateness,
   onus, onus probandi, opinionatedness, ordeal, order, outcome,
   overzealousness, passion, perseverance, persistence, pertinacity,
   pigheadedness, pinning down, plan, pleasure, point, precedent,
   precision, probation, prognosis, project, pronouncement, proof,
   proposal, prospectus, purpose, purposefulness, quantification,
   quantization, rating, reason, reassurance, reassurement,
   recognition, rediscovery, relentlessness, resoluteness, resolution,
   resolve, resolvedness, resolving, restiveness, result, revelation,
   riddling, rough draft, rough sketch, ruling, sake, selection,
   self-will, sentence, serendipity, seriousness, settlement,
   settling, sexual desire, signification, sincerity,
   single-mindedness, solution, solving, sorting out, sounding out,
   specification, spotting, standard, steadfastness, stiff neck,
   stiff-neckedness, stipulation, strain, strike, striving,
   strongheadness, struggle, stubbornness, study, substantiation,
   sulkiness, sullenness, sure sign, survey, surveying, telemetering,
   telemetry, tenaciousness, tenacity, termination, test, test case,
   total commitment, touchstone, treasure trove, trial, triangulation,
   trouvaille, trove, try, uncooperativeness, uncovering, unearthing,
   unmistakable sign, unraveling, unregenerateness, unriddling,
   unscrambling, unspinning, untangling, untwisting, unweaving,
   upshot, validation, valuation, velleity, verdict, verification,
   view, volition, will, will power, willfulness, wish, working,
   working-out



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DETERMINATION. The end, the conclusion, of a right or authority; as, the
determination of a lease. 1 Com. Dig. Estates by Grant, G 10, 11, and 12..
The determination of an authority is the end of the authority given; the end
of the return day of a writ determines the authority of the sheriff; the
death of the principal determines the authority of a mere attorney. By
determination is also understood the decision or judgment of a court of
justice.