Given is an adjective meaning already decided, established, or taken as a fact. When someone says “in any given week,” they mean any particular week you might choose to examine. When a math problem states “given that x equals 5,” it means you should accept that fact and work from there.

The word signals something you don't need to prove or argue about because everyone already accepts it. In a classroom discussion, a teacher might say “given what we learned yesterday about the water cycle,” meaning “since we all agree on these facts.” When friends plan a movie night, someone might say “given that we all love comedies,” meaning they're treating that preference as an established fact to build their plans around.

You'll often hear people say something is a given, meaning it's so certain or obvious that nobody questions it. If your family always has pancakes on Saturday morning, you might say “pancakes on Saturday are a given in our house.” If everyone knows your friend loves basketball, her joining the team might be a given.

As a noun, given can mean something that is accepted as true or already known, especially in math or logic.