Desultory, des′ul-tor-i, adj. jumping from one thing to another: without rational or logical connection: rambling: hasty: loose.—adv. Des′ultorily.—n. Des′ultoriness. [L. desultorius, of or pertaining to a vaulter, inconstant, desultor, a vaulter, desilīre, -sultum, to leap—de, from, and salīre, to jump.]
Detach, de-tach′, v.t. to unfasten: to take from or separate: to withdraw: to send off on special service.—v.i. to separate one's self.—adj. Detach′able.—p.adj. Detached′, unconnected: separate: free from care, passion, ambition, and worldly bonds.—adv. Detach′edly.—ns. Detach′edness; Detach′ment, state of being separated: that which is detached, as a body of troops. [Fr. détacher—de, neg., and root of attach.]
Detail, de-tāl′, v.t. to relate minutely: to enumerate: to set apart for a particular service.—v.i. to give details about anything.—n. (de-tāl′, or dē′tāl) a small part: an item: a particular account.—adj. Detailed′, giving full particulars: exhaustive.—In detail, circumstantially, point by point. [O. Fr. detailler—de, inten., and tailler, to cut. See Tailor.]
Detain, de-tān′, v.t. to hold from or back: to stop: to keep: to keep in custody.—ns. Detain′er, one who detains: (law) the holding of what belongs to another: a warrant to a sheriff to keep in custody a person already in confinement: Detain′ment (same as Detention). [O. Fr. detenir—L. detinēre—de, from, and tenēre, to hold.]
Detect, de-tekt′, v.t. (lit.) to uncover—hence to discover: to find out.—adjs. Detect′able, Detect′ible.—ns. Detect′er, -or, one who detects: an apparatus for detecting something, as a detector-lock, which shows if it has been tampered with; Detec′tion, discovery of something hidden: state of being found out.—adj. Detect′ive, employed in detecting.—n. a policeman employed in the investigation of special cases of crime, or in watching special classes of wrong-doers, usually not in uniform.—Private detective, one employed by a private person to gain information, or to watch his interests. [L. detectum, detegĕre—de, neg., and tegĕre, tectum, to cover.]
Detention, de-ten′shun, n. act of detaining: state of being detained: confinement: delay.—n. Detent′, something to check motion: a catch, esp. in a clock or watch. [See Detain.]
Deter, de-tėr′, v.t. to frighten from: to hinder or prevent:—pr.p. deter′ring; pa.p. deterred′.—n. Deter′ment. [L. deterrēre—de, from, terrēre, to frighten.]
Deterge, de-tėrj′, v.t. to wipe off; to cleanse (as a wound).—ns. Deterg′ence, Deterg′ency.—adj. Deterg′ent, cleansing: purging.—n. that which cleanses. [L. detergēre, detersum—de, off, and tergere, to wipe.]
Deteriorate, de-tē′ri-o-rāt, v.t. to make worse.—v.i. to grow worse.—p.adj. Detē′riorated, spoilt: of inferior quality.—n. Deteriorā′tion, the act of making worse: the state of growing worse.—adj. Detē′riorative.—n. Deterior′ity (obs.), worse state. [L. deteriorāre, -ātum, to make worse—deterior, worse—obs. deter, lower—de, down; cf. inter-ior.]
Determine, dē-tėr′min, v.t. to put terms or bounds to: to limit: to fix or settle the form or character of: to influence; to put an end to: to define.—v.i. to come to a decision: to resolve.—adj. Deter′minable, capable of being determined, decided, or finished.—ns. Deter′minableness, Determinabil′ity.—adj. Deter′minant, serving to determine.—n. that which serves to determine: in mathematical analysis, a symbolical method used for different processes, as for the solution of equations by inspection.—adj. Deter′mināte, determined or limited: fixed: decisive.—v.t. (Shak.) to determine.—adv. Deter′minātely.—n. Determinā′tion, that which is determined or resolved on: end: direction to a certain end: resolution: fixedness of purpose: decision of character.—adjs. Deter′minātive, that determines, limits, or defines; Deter′mined, firm in purpose: fixed: resolute.—adv. Deter′minedly.—n. Deter′minism, the doctrine that all things, including the will, are determined by causes—the converse of free-will: necessitarianism.—n. Deter′minist.—adj. Determinis′tic. [Fr.,—L. determināre, -ātum—de, neg., and terminus, a boundary.]