Etymologically
Log in

deterreo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 23:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈtɛr.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈtɛr.re.o][1]

Forms

dēterreō (present infinitive dēterrēre, perfect active dēterruī, supine dēterritum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dē- (“away”) + terreō (“to frighten”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨terreō⟩ to Proto-Italic *troseje- (“to scare”) and Proto-Indo-European *tros-éye- (“to make scared”); it is cognate with Umbrian tursitu (“let him scare”), Sanskrit त्रासयति (trāsáyati, “to make tremble”) and Ancient Greek τρέω (tréō, “to tremble, flee”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author.[4] Terence has it of a person: tē ut dēterream, “to put you off”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to deter or discourage a person from doing something, usually with ⟨ā⟩ or ⟨nē⟩, as Cicero's young men deterred from the study of oratory, and also to discourage an action, as Cicero's warning against deterring generosity.[2][5] In Apuleius it is simply to frighten.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “deter or prevent by fear”.[6] English deter (1570s) comes from it.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[4][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of putting a person off.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of discouraging actions.[2][7]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius in the sense “frighten”.[2][7]
  • 1570s – English deter.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To deter, discourage, put off (a person, from something).[2][1][5]
  2. To discourage, prevent (an action).[2][1]
  3. To frighten, terrify.[2][6]

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 c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de