Etymology

detinue

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Today it means: A person or thing detained; a detainee. Full definition →

Middle English detenue ← Old French detenue
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromdetenue
  2. Middle English · inherited fromdetenue
  3. English todaydetinue

From late Middle English detenue, from Old French detenue, feminine singular past participle of detenir (“to detain”). See detain.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.