detention

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈten.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French détention and directly from Late Latin dētentiō, retention,^[2][3][4] from dētinēre, to hold back (see detain).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A holding back or withholding of something due: 1443 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline;^[2][3] 1552 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Confinement or arrest appeared about 1570, in a reference to the captivity of Mary, Queen of Scots.^[2][6] Keeping a pupil in after school as a punishment is from 1882.^[6][7] Detention centre is a modern compound.^[1][7]

Timeline

• 1443 – a withholding.^[2]
• c. 1570 – confinement, arrest.^[2][6]
• 1882 – school detention.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of detaining, or the state of being held in custody.
2. A punishment in which a pupil is kept in school after hours.
3. A forced delay.

Word family

• nondetention
• predetention
• detention home
• house of detention

Related words

• detain
• retain
• contain
• tenant

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins