Borrowed from Latin dēterreō, from de ("from") + terreō ("I frighten").

• IPA: /dɪˈtɜː(ɹ)/

deter (third-person singular simple present deters, present participle deterring, simple past and past participle deterred)

1. (transitive) To prevent something from happening.
2. (transitive) To persuade someone not to do something; to discourage.

   Their boss deterred them from both taking holidays at the same time, claiming he couldn't manage it all on his own.

3. (transitive) To distract someone from something.
   • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 10:

     we have in following enquiry, attempted to throw some light upon subjects, from which uncertainty has hitherto deterred the wise

• (To persuade someone to not do something) dissuade

• deterrent
• deterrence

• French: empêcher
• German: verhindern, abwenden, unterbinden
• Italian: prevenire
• Portuguese: impedir
• Russian: предотвраща́ть
• Spanish: evitar, prevenir, disuadir

• French: dissuader, décourager
• German: abhalten, abbringen, zurückhalten
• Italian: scoraggiare
• Portuguese: dissuadir, desencorajar
• Russian: отгова́ривать
• Spanish: disuadir, desalentar

• German: ablenken, beeinträchtigen

Borrowed from German Deter.

1. Surname.