Detection

How to spell detection

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce detection

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does detection mean?

1. nounThe act or process of discovering or identifying something that was hidden, unnoticed, or wrong.

Detection in a sentence

• Early detection of the fault saved the company thousands in repairs.

• The smoke alarm relies on rapid detection of airborne particles.

Where does detection come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word detection traces back to the Latin verb detegere, which literally meant 'to uncover' or 'to lay bare', built from the prefix de- ('off' or 'away') and the verb tegere ('to cover'). To detect something was therefore to remove the cover and expose what lay hidden beneath. The noun form detectio passed into English in the fifteenth century, at first meaning the act of exposing a fault, crime, or concealed thing. Over time, especially through scientific and legal use, it broadened to describe the discovery or measurement of anything previously unnoticed, from a disease to a faint signal. The same tegere root quietly survives in 'protect' (to cover in front of) and even in 'tile' and 'toga', and the unstressed middle syllable of detection is where careful spellers must remember the 'tec', not 'tek' or 'tex'.

How the word is built

• de- (off, away)
• tect (from tegere: to cover)
• -ion (noun of action)