Dictionary

deterrent en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Received-Pronunciation)
• /dɪˈtɝənt/ (Canada, General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɪˈtɛɹənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• audio
• (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dēterrēns, dēterrentem.

Meanings

1. Serving to deter, preventing something from happening.

Forms

Deriveds

overdeterrent · underdeterrent · nondeterrent · phagodeterrent · deterrence · deterrently

Relateds

deter

Translations (19)

nl ontradend (serving to deter) · it dissuasivo (serving to deter) · mi whakakōroiroi (serving to deter) · es deterrente (serving to deter) · es disuasorio (serving to deter) · pt dissuasório (serving to deter) · bg предпазен (serving to deter) · pl odstraszający (serving to deter) · es disuasivo (serving to deter) · zh 威慑的 (serving to deter) · nl afschrikwekkend (serving to deter) · el αποτρεπτικός (serving to deter) · gl disuasorio (serving to deter) · gl disuasivo (serving to deter) · fi pidättelevä (serving to deter) · fr dissuasif (serving to deter) · nl afschrikkend (serving to deter) · es disuasor (serving to deter) · de abschreckend (serving to deter)

deterrent en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Received-Pronunciation)
• /dɪˈtɝənt/ (Canada, General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɪˈtɛɹənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• audio
• (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dēterrēns, dēterrentem.

Meanings

1. Something that deters.
   • All is well until Treorchy, where the platform is swamped by teenagers who have been attending an event. Around four dozen unescorted 12 to 16 year-olds swarm aboard and begin to run riot through the train. Their behaviour is appalling and the presence of CCTV no deterrent. 2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 48:
   • The salarians believed the genophage would be used as a deterrent, a position the turians viewed as naive. Once the project was complete, the turians mass produced and deployed it. The krogan homeworld, their colonies, and all occupied worlds were infected. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Krogan: Genophage Codex entry:
   • Along with trial by ordeal, hanging was the most effective deterrent that could be devised in an age without police or prisons. 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 175:
   • An extension of the system to serve new housing estates on the outskirts of the city, at an estimated cost of about £4,000,000 a mile, is being considered, but the narrow gauge, small clearances, and short platforms are deterrents. 1955 January, Charles E. Lee, “The Glasgow Underground Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 23:
   • One argument made by proponents of the death penalty is that it is a strong deterrent to murder and other violent crimes, but evidence shows just the opposite. Whereas the last execution in Canada took place in 1962, in 2011 there were 598 murders in Canada and 14,610 in the United States. 2014, Jimmy Carter, “Full Prisons and Legal Killing”, in A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 38:

Forms

Deriveds

nuclear deterrent · Eurodeterrent

Translations (17)

gd casg (something that deters) · ja 抑止力 (something that deters) · hu elrettentő (something that deters) · de Abschreckung (something that deters) · es disuasivo (something that deters) · sv avskräckningsvapen (something that deters) · zh 威慑物 (something that deters) · ru сре́дство устраше́ния (something that deters) · pl odstraszacz (something that deters) · nl afschrikmiddel (something that deters) · fi pelote (something that deters) · fi pidäke (something that deters) · es deterrente (something that deters) · sv avskräckningsmedel (something that deters) · es disuasor (something that deters) · mi whakakōroiroi (something that deters) · fr moyen de dissuasion (something that deters)