denial English · revision 10623

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1528|origins=en deny}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪˈnaɪ.əl/, /dəˈnaɪ.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[deny]] and [[-al]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) replacing earlier denyance (late 15th century).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A refusal to grant what is asked: 1528.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Contradicting a statement, asserting it to be untrue, is from 1576, the 1570s in Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and refusing to acknowledge a person or thing from 1590.^(OED 1989) A defendant's denial of a charge is from 1628.^(OED 1989) In some 19th-century uses denial means self-denial.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In psychology, the unconscious suppression of painful feelings is first attested in 1914, in A. A. Brill's translation of Freud,^(Etymonline) and ''in denial'' was popularized in the 1980s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1528 – refusal of a request.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1576 – contradiction.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – refusal to acknowledge.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1914 – psychological denial.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1980s – in denial.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A statement that something is not true; a [[contradiction]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A refusal of a request.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A refusal to acknowledge someone or something; [[disavowal]].^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(psychology)'' Refusal to accept a painful truth or feeling: ''in denial''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nondenial]]

+ * [[redenial]]

+ * [[self-denial]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deny]]

+ * [[negate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}