Derail

How to spell derail

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce derail

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does derail mean?

1. verbTo cause a train to run off its rails, or for a train to leave the rails.
2. verbTo obstruct or completely disrupt a plan, process, or discussion.

Derail in a sentence

• A fallen tree on the line can derail a commuter train.

• One unexpected expense can derail a careful monthly budget.

• Engineers found that excessive speed could derail the carriages on the bend.

• A single rude comment can derail an otherwise productive meeting.

Where does derail come from?

Language of origin: French

This word entered English in the nineteenth century directly from the French dérailler, which was built from the prefix dé- meaning 'off' or 'away' and rail, the metal track. The French rail itself was borrowed from the English 'rail', a word that travelled through Old French reille from the Latin regula, meaning a straight stick or ruler, the same root that gives us 'regular' and 'rule'. So at its heart the word describes something coming off the straight line it was meant to follow. As railways spread across Europe in the 1800s, French engineering vocabulary flowed back into English, and 'derail' arrived to describe a train leaving its tracks. The figurative sense, of a plan or conversation being thrown off course, grew naturally in the twentieth century. The spelling is mercifully phonetic: de- plus the everyday word rail, with no doubled letters or silent traps.

How the word is built

• de- (off, away from)
• rail (track)