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detain

Today it means: To keep something from proceeding or coming to completion; to delay. Full definition →

Old French detenir

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The story

Old French · derived fromdetenir
English todaydetain

From Old French detenir. Doublet of détente. Cognate with Italian detenere, Portuguese deter, Romanian deține, and Spanish detener.

Words from the same roots

Old Frenchdetenir all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.