deter

C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /dɪˈtɝ/ UK /dɪˈtɜː/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to discourage someone from acting through fear or doubt of consequences

Heavy fines are meant to deter drivers from speeding.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to discourage someone from... discourage dissuade inhibit hinder daunt intimidate prevent

Opposites

encourage incite embolden spur

Word family

Forms undeterred

Derived forms deterrentdeterrencedeterment

Related forms terror terrible

Etymology

From Latin deterrere ('to frighten away, discourage'), from de- ('away') + terrere ('to frighten').

deterrere Latin terrere Latin *tres- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings Word Formation & Derivatives

# deter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** dɪˈtɝ
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈtɜː

## Meanings
1. to discourage someone from acting through fear or doubt of consequences

## Examples
- Heavy fines are meant to deter drivers from speeding.

## Synonyms
- discourage
- dissuade
- inhibit
- hinder
- daunt
- intimidate
- prevent

## Antonyms
- encourage
- incite
- embolden
- spur

## Derived Forms
- deterrent
- deterrence
- determent

## Related Forms
- terror
- terrible

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: deterrere
- Root: terrere
- Root: *tres-

## Etymology
From Latin deterrere ('to frighten away, discourage'), from de- ('away') + terrere ('to frighten').

## AI Etymology
Deter is from Latin deterrere ('to frighten away, discourage'), from de- ('away') + terrere ('to frighten'). Important recorded forms include deterrere (Latin), terrere (Latin), and *tres- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers to discourage someone from acting through fear or doubt of consequences. The wider family includes derived forms such as deterrent, deterrence, and determent and related words such as terror and terrible.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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