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Today it means

detect

to discover the presence of

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Where does the word "detect" come from? It comes from Latin detectus, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

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Where does the word "detect" come from? It comes from Latin detectus, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Detect’s story begins in Latin: detectus meant “uncovered.” Past participle of 'detegere', to uncover: 'de-' plus 'tegere', to cover. It reached English by 1400s as detect. 'detective' dates from the 1840s. Today, detect means to discover the presence of.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient detectus "uncovered", past participle of 'detegere', to uncover: 'de-' plus 'tegere', to cover.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s detect "to uncover", 'detective' dates from the 1840s.

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