detective

B1 Topic:Work & Careers

US /dɪˈtɛktɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #893

Meanings

1

noun
A police officer whose job is to solve crimes by gathering evidence.

The detective questioned everyone who had been at the house.
2

noun
A person paid to find information that is not easily available to the public.

They hired a private detective to follow him.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a police officer whose job... investigatorpolice detective

2 noun · a person paid to find... private investigatorprivate detective

More beagle bloodhounddetdthawkshawsherlocksleuthsleuthhound

Word family

Forms detectives

Derived forms antidetectivecyberdetectivedetectivelikedogtectivenondetectivesuperdetective

Related forms detect detection detector

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Detective was formed in the 1840s from the older verb detect as organized police forces created a need for the term. It first appeared in combinations such as detective police and detective policeman, with the standalone noun arising as a shortening of detective policeman.

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.

Topics

Work & Careers

External links

# detective

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈtɛktɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 893

## Meanings
1. A police officer whose job is to solve crimes by gathering evidence.
2. A person paid to find information that is not easily available to the public.

## Examples
- The detective questioned everyone who had been at the house.
- They hired a private detective to follow him.

## Synonyms
- beagle
- bloodhound
- det
- dt
- hawkshaw
- investigator
- sherlock
- sleuth
- sleuthhound

## Derived Forms
- antidetective
- cyberdetective
- detectivelike
- dogtective
- nondetective
- superdetective

## Related Forms
- detect
- detection
- detector

## 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.

## AI Etymology
For detective, 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. Current senses include A police officer whose job is to solve crimes by gathering evidence and A person paid to find information that is not easily available to the public. English relatives and later formations include antidetective, cyberdetective, detectivelike, detect, detection.

## Topics
- Work & Careers

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