Detachment

How to spell detachment

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce detachment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does detachment mean?

1. nounA state of being emotionally distant, impartial, or uninvolved.
2. nounThe act or process of separating one thing from another.
3. nounA group of troops or ships sent away from a larger force for a specific duty.

Detachment in a sentence

• The therapist listened with calm detachment rather than judgement.

• The surgeon warned that detachment of the retina needs urgent treatment.

• A small detachment was sent ahead to secure the bridge.

• She reviewed her own work with surprising detachment and trimmed half of it.

• Clean detachment of the old wallpaper took most of the afternoon.

• The commander ordered a detachment to guard the supply route.

Where does detachment come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the French détachement, built on the verb détacher, meaning 'to unfasten' or 'to separate'. That verb pairs the prefix de-, meaning 'off' or 'away', with attacher, 'to fasten', which itself traces back to a root meaning 'a stake' or 'a fixing point'. So at its heart detachment is simply the undoing of an attachment, the act of unfastening one thing from another. English borrowed it in the late 1600s, first in military contexts for a body of troops sent away from the main force, and soon afterwards for the figurative sense of emotional aloofness, a mind unfastened from feeling. The buried 'tach' is the same element you can hear in 'attach' and 'tack', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the t before the ch.

How the word is built

• de- (off, away)
• tach (fasten, from Old French attachier)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)