Wordwyrt

detest

/dɪˈtest/dih-TEST
/dɪˈtɛst/dih-TEST

Meaningto call witness against

Common meaning: to hate strongly

‘down, away, off’ + ‘a witness’ → detest

Journey through time

  1. Latintestis‘a witness’
  2. Old Frenchdetestersource
  3. Englishdetest‘to hate strongly’ · today

de- also in: deterdecampdecidededucedefame

test also in: testifytestamenttestimonycontestprotest

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin testis ‘a witness’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry testis, p. 1863 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

contestprotesttestamenttestifytestimony

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