English
detachment
Detachment comes from French détacher ‘to detach’, from attacher ‘to attach’, and ultimately from Medieval Latin staca ‘a stake’.
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500staca1‘a stake’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estache2‘stick’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estachier2‘bind’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachier2‘to attach’variant of estachier
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattacher3‘to attach’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdétacher4‘to detach’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdétachement5
- Englishearliest quotation 1944detachment5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Old French estache
- 2 Wiktionary, French attacher
- 3 Wiktionary, French détacher
- 4 Wiktionary, French détachement
- 5 Wiktionary, English detachment
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1944, and December, Motor and Cartage Working: “But the horse has left his mark, for his…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500stacaWiktionary, Old French estache‘a stake’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estacheWiktionary, French attacher‘stick’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estachierWiktionary, French attacher‘bind’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachierWiktionary, French attacher‘to attach’variant of estachier
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattacherWiktionary, French détacher‘to attach’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdétacherWiktionary, French détachement‘to detach’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdétachementWiktionary, English detachment
- Englishearliest quotation 1944detachmentWiktionary, English detachment. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1944, and December, Motor and Cartage Working: “But the horse has left his mark, for his…”
Equivalent to detach + -ment
Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’
Proto-Germanic *stikaną ‘to stab’
Frankish *stekan
Old French atachier ‘to attach’
Old French destachier ‘to detach’
English detach
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *stakô ‘a stake’
through Old French atachier ‘to attach’
attack, etiquette, attach, staccato, 2 more
through French attacher ‘to attach’
through French détacher ‘to detach’
Today it means
noun The action of detaching; separation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “detachment”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old French estache, French attacher, French détacher, French détachement. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Medieval Latin staca / detachment