English
detection
Detection comes from Latin detectio ‘discovery, the act or process of learning…’, from tegō ‘to cover, to hide’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-‘to cover with a roof’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tegō‘to cover’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegō‘to cover, to hide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētegō‘to uncover, to discover, to detect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdetectioas dētēctiōnem‘discovery, the act or process of learning something new’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897detection
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-‘to cover with a roof’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tegō‘to cover’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegō‘to cover, to hide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētegō‘to uncover, to discover, to detect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdetectioas dētēctiōnem‘discovery, the act or process of learning something new’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897detection
Earliest quotation: 1897, Winston Churchill: “In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving…”
Equivalent to detect + -ion
Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover with a roof’
Proto-Italic *tegō ‘to cover’
Latin tegō ‘to cover’
Latin detegere ‘to uncover or disclose’
Latin detectus ‘uncovered, revealed, disclosed’
English detect
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover with a roof’
tile, thug, sauna, thatch, staccato, toque, 29 more
through Latin tegō ‘to cover, to hide’
Today it means
noun The act or process of detecting, uncovering, or finding out, the discovery of something new, hidden, or disguised.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- / detection