LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
verbsecond conjugation

dētineō

dētineō (present infinitive dētinēre, perfect active dētinuī, supine dētentum)
Classical[deːˈtɪ.ne.oː]Ecclesiastical[deˈtiː.ne.o]

Meaning

  1. to hold or keep off or back, detain, check
    [...] aut gremiō Ascanium, genitōris imāgine captā,Or else [Dido], so taken by Ascanius’ resemblance of his father, detains [the boy] in her embrace, as if she can deceive [her] unspeakable love [for Aeneas].29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.84-85
  2. to delay, hinder, lengthen; occupy, engage, stop

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Manere · Morari · Tardare · Detinere

1. Manere (from μένειν) denotes remaining, in opp. to going away; whereas morari (from βραδύς) denotes tarrying, as an interruption of motion, in opp. to going forwards. Cic. Sen. 23. Commorandi natura deversorium nobis, non habitandi dedit. Hence in Tac. H. ii. 48. Irent propere neu remanendo iram victoris asperarent,—the reading remorando deserves the preference. 2. Morari aliquem means, to prevail upon any one to stay of his own free will by proposing conditions, like διατρίβειν; tardare, to prevent a person’s hastening on his way by opposing difficulties, like βραδύνειν; detinere, to hinder him from going forwards by force, like κατέχειν. Tardare has generally an action for its object2; detinere, a person; morari, either. (iii. 298.)

2 [But: nos Etesiæ valde tardarunt.]

Conjugation conjugation 2

active indicative
formpresentimperfectfutureperfectpluperfectfut. perfect
1st sg.dētineōdētinēbamdētinēbōdētinuīdētinueramdētinuerō
2nd sg.dētinēsdētinēbāsdētinēbisdētinuistīdētinuerāsdētinueris
3rd sg.dētinetdētinēbatdētinēbitdētinuitdētinueratdētinuerit
1st pl.dētinēmusdētinēbāmusdētinēbimusdētinuimusdētinuerāmusdētinuerimus
2nd pl.dētinētisdētinēbātisdētinēbitisdētinuistisdētinuerātisdētinueritis
3rd pl.dētinentdētinēbantdētinēbuntdētinuērunt
dētinuēre		dētinuerantdētinuerint
active subjunctive
active subjunctive
formpresentimperfectperfectpluperfect
1st sg.dētineamdētinēremdētinuerimdētinuissem
2nd sg.dētineāsdētinērēsdētinuerīsdētinuissēs
3rd sg.dētineatdētinēretdētinueritdētinuisset
1st pl.dētineāmusdētinērēmusdētinuerīmusdētinuissēmus
2nd pl.dētineātisdētinērētisdētinuerītisdētinuissētis
3rd pl.dētineantdētinērentdētinuerintdētinuissent
passive indicative
passive indicative
formpresentimperfectfuture
1st sg.dētineordētinēbardētinēbor
2nd sg.dētinēris
dētinēre		dētinēbāris
dētinēbāre		dētinēberis
dētinēbere
3rd sg.dētinēturdētinēbāturdētinēbitur
1st pl.dētinēmurdētinēbāmurdētinēbimur
2nd pl.dētinēminīdētinēbāminīdētinēbiminī
3rd pl.dētinenturdētinēbanturdētinēbuntur
passive subjunctive
passive subjunctive
formpresentimperfect
1st sg.dētineardētinērer
2nd sg.dētineāris
dētineāre		dētinērēris
dētinērēre
3rd sg.dētineāturdētinērētur
1st pl.dētineāmurdētinērēmur
2nd pl.dētineāminīdētinērēminī
3rd pl.dētineanturdētinērentur
imperative
imperative
formactivepassive
pres. 2nd sg.dētinēdētinēre
pres. 2nd pl.dētinētedētinēminī
fut. 2nd sg.dētinētōdētinētor
fut. 3rd sg.dētinētōdētinētor
fut. 2nd pl.dētinētōte—
fut. 3rd pl.dētinentōdētinentor
infinitives & participles
infinitives & participles
formactivepassive
present infinitivedētinēredētinērī
perfect infinitivedētinuissedētentum esse
future infinitivedētentūrum essedētentum īrī
present participledētinēns—
perfect participle—dētentus
dētenta, dētentā, dētentae, dētentam, dētentārum, dētentās, dētente, dētentī, dētentīs, dētentō, dētentōrum, dētentōs
future participledētentūrus
dētentūra, dētentūrā, dētentūrae, dētentūram, dētentūrārum, dētentūrās, dētentūre, dētentūrī, dētentūrīs, dētentūrō, dētentūrōrum, dētentūrōs, dētentūrum		dētinendus
dētinenda, dētinendā, dētinendae, dētinendam, dētinendārum, dētinendās, dētinende, dētinendīs, dētinendōrum, dētinendōs
gerunddētinendī, dētinendō, dētinendumsupinedētentum, dētentū

dē-tĭnĕo, tĭnŭi, tentum, 2, v. a. teneo,
I. to hold off, keep back, detain.
I. Lit. (class.): nos de nostro negotio, Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 190: aliquem ab aliquo incepto studioque, Sall. C. 4, 2: aliquem apud villam, Plaut. Cist. 2, 1, 13: so, aliquem, id. Men. 4, 2, 22; Ter. Eun. 2, 2, 49; Lentul. ap. Cic. Fam. 12, 5, 5 (with demorari), Caes. B. C. 2, 17, 3 Oud. N. cr.; Liv. 4, 55 (opp. concire); Verg. A. 2, 788; Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 5: me grata compede Myrtale, id. Od. 1, 33, 14; Ov. M. 13, 301 et saep.: novissimos proelio, Caes. B. C. 3, 75, 4; cf.: Hannibalem quam acerrimo bello, Liv. 27, 12: se miserandis alimentis detinuerat, had supported himself, Tac. A. 6, 23: naves tempestatibus detinebantur, Caes. B. G. 3, 12 fin.; cf.: rates voce canora, Ov. A. A. 3, 311: iter iratae anguis (cantus), Tib. 1, 8, 20: illum ne discederet, Vulg. Luc. 4, 42.—
II. Trop.
A. In gen. (poet.), to delay, i. e. lengthen: euntem multa loquendo Detinuit sermone diem, Ov. M. 1, 683; cf. tempus, id. Pont. 4, 10, 67.—
B. Esp., to occupy, engage (also class.): in alienis negotiis detineri, Cic. Inv. 2, 45, 132; cf. Quint. 10, 5, 17: in contumelia, Tac. A. 13, 36 fin.: in admiratione sui, Suet. Ner. 52: manus in lyricis modis, Ov. F. 5, 386: mentes hominum circa alia, Plin. H. N. 14 prooem. § 4: animum studiis, Ov. Tr. 5, 7, 39: oculos (mea poëmata), id. ib. 2, 520; cf. Quint. 9, 2, 63: animos in timore, Hirt. B. Afr. 72, 3.—
C. To hold in the mind, know: veritatem Dei in injustitia, Vulg. Rom. 1, 18.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindētineō

Latin dē- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *tn̥eh₁yéti Proto-Italic *tenēō Latin teneō Latin dētineō From dē- + teneō (“hold; restrain”).

Descendants
  • Catalandetenir
  • Englishdetain
  • Frenchdétenir
  • Italianditenere
  • Italiandetenere
  • Occitandeténer
  • Occitandetendre
  • Occitandetenir
  • Portuguesedeter
  • Romaniandeține

In English words that came into English from dētineō

  • detentiondetentio

Quick answers

What does dētineō mean in Latin?
dētineō, a verb, means “to hold or keep off or back, detain, check; to delay, hinder, lengthen; occupy, engage, stop”.
What are the principal parts of dētineō?
dētineō, dētinēre, dētinuī, dētentum (second conjugation).
How do you pronounce dētineō?
In classical Latin, [deːˈtɪ.ne.oː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [deˈtiː.ne.o].
Where does dētineō come from?
Proto-Indo-European *de → Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ → Proto-Italic *dē → Latin dētineō.