different between detective vs detect

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??t?kt?v/
• Rhymes: -?kt?v

Noun

detective (plural detectives)

1. (law enforcement) A police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator.
2. A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.

Synonyms

• (law enforcement): DT (abbreviation), Det (abbreviation)
• (person employed to find information): private detective, private investigator
• (person employed to find information): (slang) dick, private dick
• sleuth

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

Adjective

detective (not comparable)

1. Employed in detecting.

Asturian

Noun

detective m or f (plural detectives)

1. detective

Galician

Noun

detective m (plural detectives)

1. detective

Further reading

• “detective” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese

Noun

detective m (plural detectives)

1. Alternative form of detetive

Spanish

Etymology

From English detective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dete??tibe/, [d?e.t?e???t?i.??e]

Noun

detective m or f (plural detectives)

1. detective

Usage notes

• detective may be masculine or feminine, but the less common detectiva exists for female detectives as well.

Derived terms

• detective privado
• detectivesco

Further reading

• “detective” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Latin detectus, perfect passive participle of detegere (“to uncover or disclose”), from de- + tegere (“to cover”); see tegument, tile, thatch

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??t?kt/
• Rhymes: -?kt

Verb

detect (third-person singular simple present detects, present participle detecting, simple past and past participle detected)

1. to discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing

Derived terms

• detection
• detective
• detector

Descendants

• ? Catalan: detectar
• ? French: détecter
  • ? Dutch: detecteren
• ? Portuguese: detectar
• ? Romanian: detecta
• ? Spanish: detectar

Translations

See also

• discover
• find
• stumble upon

Adjective

detect (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Detected.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Fabyan to this entry?)

Further reading

• detect in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• detect in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• dectet