Where does “detainee” come from?
Detainee comes from English detain plus the French suffix -é, from Latin detineo meaning to hold back, composed of the prefix de- and the root ten- meaning to hold.
detainee (English): Someone who is detained, especially in custody or...
Definitions
- Someone who is detained, especially in custody or...
Ancestry of “detainee”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | detain | To keep someone from proceeding by holding them... |
| 2 | Old French | detenir | to detain |
| 3 | Latin | dētineō | to hold or keep off or back, detain, check |
| 4 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 5 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 6 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 7 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |