detention

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /dɪˈtɛnʃn̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #6745

Meanings

1

noun
The act of officially holding someone in custody, usually for a short time.

Their detention was clearly politically motivated.
2

noun
A punishment in which a student must stay at school after class.

He got detention for being late three times.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the act of officially... custody

Word family

Forms detentions

Derived forms nondetentionpredetentionredetention

Related forms detain

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

detention center
a facility where people are held in official custody

Noun + noun

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French détention, from Latin detentio, detentionem. Equivalent to detain + -tion.

détention Middle French detentio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# detention

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈtɛnʃn̩/
**Frequency rank:** 6745

## Meanings
1. The act of officially holding someone in custody, usually for a short time.
2. A punishment in which a student must stay at school after class.

## Examples
- Their detention was clearly politically motivated.
- He got detention for being late three times.

## Derived Forms
- nondetention
- predetention
- redetention

## Related Forms
- detain

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: détention
- Root: detentio

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French détention, from Latin detentio, detentionem. Equivalent to detain + -tion.

## AI Etymology
Detention is borrowed from Middle French détention, from Latin detentio, detentionem. Equivalent to detain + -tion. The historical chain includes détention (Middle French) and detentio (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as nondetention, predetention, and redetention and related forms such as detain. In present use it covers the act of officially holding someone in custody, usually for a short time and a punishment in which a student must stay at school after class.

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

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