derogate

Borrowed from (the participle stem of) Latin dērogāre (“to annul, repeal part of a law, take away, detract from”), from de- (“from”) + rogāre (“to propose a law, ask”). Compare abrogate, arrogate, interrogate.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛɹəɡeɪt/

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derogate (third-person singular simple present derogates, present participle derogating, simple past and past participle derogated)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To partially repeal (a law etc.). [16th–17th c.]
   • 1713, Matthew Hale, A History and Analysis of the Common Law of England

     By several contrary customs, […] many of the civil and canon laws are controlled and derogated.

2. (transitive) To detract from (something); to disparage, belittle. [from 16th c.]
   • 1642, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus:

     I never thought the human frailty of erring in cases of religion, infamy to a state, no more than to a council: it had therefore been neither civil nor christianly, to derogate the honour of the state for that cause [...].

   • 1999, Ziva Kunda, Social Cognition, p. 222:

     When the need for self-affirmation is satisfied through other means, one is less compelled to derogate members of negatively stereotyped groups.

   • 2001, Russell Cropanzano, Justice in the Workplace, vol. II, p. 104:

     Bandura (1990) gave a related example of gas chamber operators in Nazi prison camps, who found it necessary to derogate and dehumanize their victims rather than become overwhelmed by distress.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To take away (something from something else) in a way which leaves it lessened. [from 16th c.]
   • 1532, Thomas More, The Supper of the Lord

     Anything […] that should derogate, minish, or hurt his glory and his name.

   • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], OCLC 946162345:

     It derogates little from his fortitude, while it adds infinitely to the honor of his humanity.

4. (intransitive) To remove a part, to detract from (a quality of excellence, authority etc.). [from 16th c.]
   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, →ISBN, page 147:

     In doing so she had derogated from her dignity and committed herself.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19:

     God does not have the attributes of a Christian Providence, for it would derogate from His perfection to think about anything except what is perfect, i.e. Himself.

   • 1967, "The undoing of Dodd", Time, 5 Dec 1967:

     The six-member Committee on Standards and Conduct unanimously recommended that the Senate censure the Connecticut Democrat for behavior that is "contrary to good morals, derogates from the public trust expected of a Senator, and tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."

5. (intransitive) To act in a manner below oneself; to debase oneself. [from 17th c.]
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:

     CLOTEN. Is it fit I went to look upon him? Is there no derogation in't?
     SECOND LORD. You cannot derogate, my lord.

   • 1830 August, William Hazlitt, P.P. Howe, editor, The Complete Works of William Hazlitt‎, published 1967, page 302:

     Would Charles X. derogate from his ancestors? Would he be the degenerate scion of that royal line?

The verb is relatively uncommon, but the related adjective derogatory is common.

• decry
• (to disparage, belittle): vilify
• (to detract from (a quality of excellence, authority etc.)): abase

• (to disparage, belittle): praise
• (to detract from (a quality of excellence, authority etc.)): exalt

• abrogate
• arrogate
• interrogate
• prorogue
• surrogate

derogate (comparative more derogate, superlative most derogate)

1. (archaic) debased
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iv]:

     Dry up in her the organs of increase, / And from her derogate body never spring / A babe to honour her.

• derogatory
• derogation
• derogative

• dogeater, erogated

derogate

1. inflection of derogare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

dērogāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dērogō