detainment

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /dɪˈteɪnmənt/ UK /dɪˈteɪnmənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the act of detaining or being held in custody

His detainment at the border lasted nearly six hours.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the act of detaining or... detention custody confinement imprisonment captivity arrest

Opposites

release liberation freedom

Word family

Related forms detain detentiondetaineeretain

Etymology

From detain + -ment. Detain is from Old French detenir, from Latin detinere ('to hold back'), from de- ('away') + tenere ('to hold').

detinere Latin tenere Latin *ten- Proto-Indo-European

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Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

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# detainment

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈteɪnmənt/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈteɪnmənt/

## Meanings
1. the act of detaining or being held in custody

## Examples
- His detainment at the border lasted nearly six hours.

## Synonyms
- detention
- custody
- confinement
- imprisonment
- captivity
- arrest

## Antonyms
- release
- liberation
- freedom

## Related Forms
- detain
- detention
- detainee
- retain

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: detinere
- Root: tenere
- Root: *ten-

## Etymology
From detain + -ment. Detain is from Old French detenir, from Latin detinere ('to hold back'), from de- ('away') + tenere ('to hold').

## AI Etymology
Detainment is from detain + -ment. Detain is from Old French detenir, from Latin detinere ('to hold back'), from de- ('away') + tenere ('to hold'). The ancestry passes through Latin detinere, Latin tenere, and Proto-Indo-European *ten-. The prefix de- often marks removal, reversal, or downward motion in Latin formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a noun, it means "the act of detaining or being held in custody", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include detain, detention, detainee, and retain.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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detainment

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