Wordwyrt

deter

/dɪˈtɜː/dih-TUR
/dɪˈtɝ/dih-TUR

Meaningto frighten off

Common meaning: to discourage from acting

‘down, away, off’ + ‘to frighten’ → deter

Journey through time

  1. Latinterreō, -ēre‘to frighten’
  2. Englishdeter‘to discourage from acting’ · today

de- also in: decampdecidededucedefamedefend

ter also in: terrifyterrible

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin terreō ‘to frighten’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry terreō, p. 1860 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

terribleterrify

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