English
detonate
Detonate may come from French détoner ‘to detonate’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdétoner‘to detonate’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2013detonate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdétoner‘to detonate’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2013detonate
Earliest quotation: 2013, Michael J. Restrepo, The Custody Officer: “As Oscar turned to greet Yvonne, she could see…”
first attested First attested in 1729 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1729; either borrowed from French détoner or directly from Latin dētonātus, perfect passive participle of dētonō (‘to thunder down (strongly); (figuratively, of a person) to thunder, speak threateningly, to rage; to stop thundering’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- (‘off, from’) + tonō (‘to thunder’)). The current interlingual meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times (to thunder → make a large noise → explode), compare explode.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- ‘to thunder’
through Latin tonō ‘to thunder’
Today it means
verb To explode, blow up
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French détoner / detonate