Pronounced: TON-teen (alt: ton-TEEN), noun
Notes: I didn’t recognize the word, but after reading the definition, I have seen it in a book
Yesterday’s word
The word derogate means
- to cause to seem inferior; disparage
- to take away a part of as to impair; detract
- to act beneath one’s position or character
First usage
Our word came into English around 1400
Background / Comments
Our word is the verb form of the more common adjective “derogatory”; however, our word came into English before “derogatory”, even though it is no longer well known. Our word came from the Late Latin word derogatus, the past participle of the verb derogare (to detract; to annul).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 