Where does “detain” come from?
Detain comes from Old French detenir, from Latin detineo, formed from the prefix de- and the root ten- meaning "to hold," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ten-.
detain (English): To keep someone from proceeding by holding them...
Definitions
- To keep someone from proceeding by holding them...
Ancestry of “detain”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | detenir | to detain |
| 2 | Latin | dētineō | to hold or keep off or back, detain, check |
| 3 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 4 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 5 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 6 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |