Etymograph

English

detain

Detain comes from Old French detenir ‘to detain’, from Latin teneō ‘hold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘to stretch, extend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ten-1‘to stretch, extend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tn̥eh₁yéti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tenēō1‘to hold’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEteneō1‘hold’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdetineo2as detinere‘to hold or keep off or back, detain, check’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400detenir3‘to detain’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1651detain3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin detineo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French detenir
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English detain
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1651, Jeremy Taylor, Of Christian Justice: “Detain not the wages of the hireling: […]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ten-Wiktionary, Latin detineo‘to stretch, extend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tn̥eh₁yétiWiktionary, Latin detineoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tenēōWiktionary, Latin detineo‘to hold’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEteneōWiktionary, Latin detineo‘hold’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdetineoWiktionary, Old French deteniras detinere‘to hold or keep off or back, detain, check’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400detenirWiktionary, English detain‘to detain’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1651detainWiktionary, English detain. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1651, Jeremy Taylor, Of Christian Justice: “Detain not the wages of the hireling: […]”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘to stretch, extend’

tight, tone, ton, tune, maintenance, entertainment, tender, obtain, tonic, tendon, pertinent, pristine, 71 more

through Proto-Italic *tenēō ‘to hold’

container, 20 more

through Latin teneō ‘hold’

content, continue, tennis, continuous, continent, contain, tenant, retention, tenor, sustain, continuum, retain, rein, abstinence, 33 more

through Latin detineo ‘to hold or keep off or back, detain, check’

detention, 2 more

Today it means

verb To keep something from proceeding or coming to completion; to delay.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “detain”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin detineo, Old French detenir. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *ten- / detain

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