deviancy

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˈdiviənsi/ UK /ˈdiːvɪənsi/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the state of departing from accepted norms, especially of behavior

Sociologists studied how communities define and police deviancy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of departing from... devianceaberranceabnormality nonconformity perversion waywardness

Opposites

conformity normality orthodoxy

Word family

Related forms deviant deviate deviation

Etymology

From deviant + -cy. Deviant is from Late Latin deviantem, present participle of deviare ('to turn aside'), from de- ('off') + via ('way, road').

deviare Latin via Latin *weǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# deviancy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈdiviənsi
**IPA (UK):** ˈdiːvɪənsi

## Meanings
1. the state of departing from accepted norms, especially of behavior

## Examples
- Sociologists studied how communities define and police deviancy.

## Synonyms
- deviance
- aberrance
- abnormality
- nonconformity
- perversion
- waywardness

## Antonyms
- conformity
- normality
- orthodoxy

## Related Forms
- deviant
- deviate
- deviation

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: deviare
- Root: via
- Root: *weǵʰ-

## Etymology
From deviant + -cy. Deviant is from Late Latin deviantem, present participle of deviare ('to turn aside'), from de- ('off') + via ('way, road').

## AI Etymology
Deviancy is from deviant + -cy. Deviant is from Late Latin deviantem, present participle of deviare ('to turn aside'), from de- ('off') + via ('way, road'). The ancestry passes through Latin deviare, Latin via, and Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. The prefix de- often marks removal, reversal, or downward motion in Latin formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a noun, it means "the state of departing from accepted norms, especially of behavior", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include deviant, deviate, and deviation.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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deviancy

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