Etymologically
Log in

detego

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 18:16. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdeː.tɛ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.te.ɡo][1]

Forms

dētegō (present infinitive dētegere, perfect active dētēxī, supine dētēctum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + tegō (“to cover”).[2][1] De Vaan traces tegō to Proto-Italic *teg-e/o- (“to cover”) and Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-e/o- (“to cover”).[3] Cognate with Ancient Greek στέγω (stégō, “to keep off, keep in”), Old Irish teg (“house”) and Lithuanian stógas (“roof”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is in Plautus, who has “the wind has unroofed the farmhouse”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is to unroof, then to uncover, lay bare or expose, as in Cicero, and to bare a weapon, as in Lucan's “bare the sword”.[2] Lewis & Short note that it is frequent in the Augustan period, as Livy's temple of Juno half unroofed and Virgil's palace of Cacus laid open.[4] Figuratively it is to disclose or reveal, as in Livy's men who reveal a plot for fear of a harsher inquiry.[2] Church Latin glosses it “disclose, uncover, detect”.[5] English detect, from its past participle, first meant to uncover or expose, in the early 15th century.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a farmhouse unroofed by the wind.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of laying bare.[2][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of the palace of Cacus laid open.[4][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a half-unroofed temple and of a plot revealed.[2][4][7]
  • early 15th century – English detect, “to uncover, expose”.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To unroof.[2][4]
  2. To uncover, lay bare, expose; to bare a weapon.[2][4][1]
  3. To disclose, reveal, detect.[2][5][1]

Word family

  • dētēctiō
  • detector

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de