Detailed

How to spell detailed

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce detailed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does detailed mean?

1. adjectiveIncluding many small particulars; carefully thorough and itemised.

Detailed in a sentence

• The contractor sent a detailed estimate that listed every material and labour cost.

• Her detailed notes from the meeting captured each decision and deadline.

Where does detailed come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grows from the noun 'detail', which English borrowed from French in the seventeenth century. The French detail came from the verb detailler, meaning 'to cut into pieces', built from the prefix de- (indicating thoroughness) and tailler 'to cut', itself from the Latin taliare 'to split or prune'. The original idea was that something examined in detail had been mentally cut up into its many small parts, so that each piece could be considered on its own. The same tailler root survives in the English words 'tailor' (one who cuts cloth) and 'retail' (goods sold in cut-up, smaller quantities). 'Detailed' as an adjective, describing something full of careful particulars, became common through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle: writers must keep the 'ai' of 'tail' even though the ear barely hears it.

How the word is built

• de- (down, completely)
• tail (from French tailler: to cut)
• -ed (adjective/past-participle suffix)