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Origin and history of detain

detain(v.)

early 15c. (implied in deteined), "keep back or away, withhold," from Old French detenir "to hold off, keep back" (12c.), from Latin detinere "hold off, keep back," from de "from, away" (see de-) + tenere "to hold" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch").

Legal sense of "to hold in custody" is from late 15c. (late 13c. in Anglo-French). Meaning "keep or restrain from proceeding" is from 1590s. Modern spelling is 17c., from influence of contain, retain, etc. Related: Detained; detaining.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to detain

detainee(n.)

"person held in legal custody," 1914, from detain + -ee.

detainer(n.)

1530s, "one who detains," agent noun from detain. As a legal term, "a detaining in one's possession" (what belongs to another), 1610s, from Anglo-French detener, from Old French detenir (noun use of infinitive).

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Trends of detain

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

detention
mid-15c., detencioun, "act of keeping back or withholding," from Old French détention (13c.) and directly from Late Latin detentionem (nominative detentio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin detinere "hold back, keep off" (see detain). Sense of "confinement, restr
stay
mid-15c., steien, transitive, "detain, hold back," from Old French estai-, stem of estare "to stay or stand," from Latin stare "to stand, stand still, remain standing; be upright, be erect; stand firm, stand in battle; abide; be unmovable; be motionless; remain, tarry, linger; ta
delay
c. 1300, delaien, "to put off, postpone;" late 14c., "to put off or hinder for a time," from Old French delaiier, from de- "away, from" (see de-) + laier "leave, let." This is perhaps a variant of Old French laissier, from Latin laxare "slacken, undo" (see lax). But Watkins has i
button-hole
The verb, also buttonhole, meaning "to detain (someone) in conversation against his will" (1862) was earlier button-hold...The image is of holding someone by the coat-button so as to detain him....
reprieve
1570s, reprive, "take back to prison," alteration (perhaps by influence of reprove) of Middle English repryen "to remand, detain...
arrest
"to cause to stop," also "to detain legally," late 14c., from Old French arester "to stay, stop" (12c., Modern French arrêter...
retain
retenir "keep, retain; take into feudal service; hold back; remember" (12c.), from Latin retinere "hold back, keep back, detain...
rush
mid-14c. (implied in rushing), "to drive back or down," from Anglo-French russher, from Old French ruser "to dodge, repel," which is from Latin recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to" (see recuse; also compare ruse). The meaning "do somethin
catch
c. 1200, "to take, capture," from Anglo-French or Old North French cachier "catch, capture" animals (Old French chacier "hunt, pursue, drive" animals, Modern French chasser "to hunt"), from Vulgar Latin *captiare "try to seize, chase" (also source of Spanish cazar, Italian caccia
Catch-22
from the title of Joseph Heller's 1961 novel, but the phrase became widespread after release of the movie based on the book in 1970. The catch (n.) is that a bomber pilot is insane if he flies combat missions without asking to be relieved from duty, and thus he is eligible to be

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Dictionary entries near detain
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