deter

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɜː(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)

Verb

1. (transitive) To prevent something from happening.
2. (transitive) To persuade someone not to do something; to discourage.
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

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• deterrent
• deterrence

Translations

to prevent something from happening

• Bulgarian: възпирам (bg) (vǎzpiram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防止 (zh) (fángzhǐ), 阻止 (zh) (zǔzhǐ), 預防／预防 (zh) (yùfáng), 预防 (zh) (yùfáng)

• Czech: odvrátit pf
• Dutch: verhinderen (nl)
• Finnish: estää (fi)
• French: empêcher (fr)
• German: abhalten (de), verhindern (de)
• Hungarian: elrettent (hu)
• Icelandic: hindra
• Italian: prevenire (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 防ぐ (ja) (fusegu), 阻む (ja) (habamu), 阻止する (ja) (soshi suru)
• Maori: kaiwaenga
• Norwegian: forhindre (no)
• Portuguese: impedir (pt)
• Romanian: împiedica (ro), opri (ro)
• Russian: предотвраща́ть (ru) impf (predotvraščátʹ), предотврати́ть (ru) pf (predotvratítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: osujetiti (sh), spriječiti (sh)
• Slovene: preprečiti
• Spanish: evitar (es), prevenir (es), disuadir (es)
• Swedish: förhindra (sv), avstyra (sv)

to persuade someone not to do something

• Bulgarian: разубеждавам (bg) (razubeždavam)
• Czech: odradit (cs) pf, odstrašit pf
• Dutch: ontmoedigen (nl)
• Finnish: pidätellä (fi), estellä (fi), taivutella (fi)
• French: dissuader (fr), décourager (fr)
• German: entmutigen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀποτρέπω (apotrépō)

• Italian: scoraggiare (it)
• Japanese: 思い止まらせる (omoitodomaraseru), 抑止する (ja) (yokushi suru)
• Maori: whakapāhunu, taitu
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: avskrekke
• Portuguese: dissuadir (pt), desencorajar (pt)
• Romanian: descuraja (ro), deconsilia (ro)
• Russian: отгова́ривать (ru) impf (otgovárivatʹ), отговори́ть (ru) pf (otgovorítʹ), разубежда́ть (ru) impf (razubeždátʹ), разубеди́ть (ru) pf (razubedítʹ), уде́рживать (ru) impf (udérživatʹ), удержа́ть (ru) pf (uderžátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: odgovoriti (sh), odvratiti (sh)
• Slovene: odvrniti
• Spanish: disuadir (es), desalentar (es)
• Swedish: avråda (sv), avskräcka (sv)

Further reading

• “deter”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “deter”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “deter”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• treed

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Galician

Etymology

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

Verb

1. to detain, stop
2. first-person singular personal infinitive of deter
3. third-person singular personal infinitive of deter

Related terms

• abster
• ater
• conter
• entreter

• manter
• reter
• soster
• ter

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Portuguese

Etymology

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

Verb

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

Related terms

• detenção
• ter