détente

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries

   The trade agreement marked a genuine détente between the two rivals.

2. 2
   noun

   (historical) the period of reduced Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s

   Historians still argue about why détente collapsed at the end of the decade.

From French détente ("relaxation, slackening"), from Old French destente, from destendre ("to slacken, release"), from Latin dis- ("apart") + tendere ("to stretch"). The underlying image is mechanical — a bowstring or spring let down from tension — and the same tendere root gives English tension, tendon, and intend. Diplomacy borrowed the word for the moment two strained powers let the string down.

Topics

External links

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