detrimental
/ˌdetɹəˈmentəl/deh-truh-MEN-tuhl
/ˌdɛtɹəˈmɛntəl/deh-truh-MEN-tuhl
Meaningcausing detriment
Common meaning: harmful
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- trito rub, wear awayLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1859 · scan
- mentnoun ending: act or result
- aladjective ending: relating to
‘down, away, off’ + ‘to rub, wear away’ → detrimental
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: Formed in English from detriment + -al.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DETRIMENT, p.163 · scan
Roots
- terō, trīvī, trītum Latin “to rub, wear away”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app