Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: deterrere, from terrere 'to frighten'

deter

 verb
     
de‧ter past tense and past participle deterred, present participle deterring [transitive]
to stop someone from doing something, by making them realize it will be difficult or have bad results [↪ deterrent]:
The company's financial difficulties have deterred potential investors.
deter somebody from (doing) something
The security camera was installed to deter people from stealing.
! Do not say 'deter someone to do something'. Say deter someone from doing something.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary