Where does “detour” come from?
Detour comes from French détour, from French détourner meaning to turn away, formed with the prefix dé- from Old French des-, from Latin dis- and ex, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European terh₁- meaning to turn or cross.
detour (English): A diversion or deviation from one's original...
Definitions
- A diversion or deviation from one's original...
Ancestry of “detour”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | détour | detour; curve; evasion |
| 2 | French | détourner | to divert; to distract, to divert; to hijack |
| 3 | French | dé- | used to make antonyms |
| 4 | Middle French | dés- | — |
| 5 | Latin | dē- | — |
| 6 | Latin | dē | — |
| 7 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 8 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | posti | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |