deter

Borrowed from Latin dēterreō (“deter, discourage”), from de (“from”) + terreō (“I frighten”).

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɜː(ɹ)/

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

deter (third-person singular simple present deters, present participle deterring, simple past and past participle deterred)

1. (transitive) To prevent something from happening.
2. (transitive) To persuade someone not to do something; to discourage.
   • 2020 July 1, Paul Stephen, “Vital Connections”, in Rail, page 41:

     Such a male-dominated environment is also likely to contribute to the lingering presence of an outdated belief that expressing feelings and demonstrating emotion is a sign of weakness, deterring some men from discussing their problems.

   Their boss deterred them from both taking holidays at the same time, claiming he couldn't manage it all on his own.

3. (transitive) To distract someone from something.
   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 10.

     we have in following enquiry, attempted to throw some light upon subjects, from which uncertainty has hitherto deterred the wise

• (To persuade someone to not do something): dissuade

• deterrent
• deterrence

• deter in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• deter in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• deter at OneLook Dictionary Search

• treed

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese detẽer, from Latin dētinēre, present active infinitive of dētineō (“detain”).

• IPA^(key): [deˈteɾ]

deter (first-person singular present deteño, first-person singular preterite detiven, past participle detido)

1. to detain, stop
2. to stay
3. to arrest

• “deteer” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “detee” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “deter” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “deter” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “deter” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

From Old Portuguese detẽer, from Latin dētinēre (“to detain”).

deter (first-person singular present detenho, first-person singular preterite detive, past participle detido)

1. to stop, arrest, detain, restrain
2. to deter
3. to withhold

• detenção
• ter