detective

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.

   He worked as a detective with the agency for five years.

2. 2
   noun

   A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.

   […] Sherlock Holmes remarked calmly. […] "Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I'm a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is. Here in London we have lots of Government detectives and lots of private ones. When these fellows are at fault they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent. They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able, by the help of my knowledge of the history of crime, to set them straight. There is a strong family resemblance about misdeeds, and if you have all the details of a thousand at your finger ends, it is odd if you can't unravel the thousand and first.[…]"

3. 3
   noun

   a police officer who investigates crimes

4. 4
   noun

   an investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public

5. 5
   adj

   Employed in detecting.

Etymology

The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. The noun is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction.