This week’s theme
Unfamiliar cousins of everyday words

This week’s words
chicane
derogate
ludic
altercate
complot

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(DER-uh-gayt)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To disparage or belittle.
verb intr.: 1. To detract from (authority, value, etc.). 2. To deviate from (a standard, for example).

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin derogare (to repeal), from de- (from) + rogare (to ask, propose a law). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reg- (to move in a straight line, to lead or rule), which is also the source of regime, direct, rectangle, erect, rectum, alert, source, surge, abrogate, and queen regnant. Earliest documented use: 1513.

USAGE:

“We could all, in perfect simplicity, derogate the government, loathe the police, and get wasted with impunity.”
Lynn Crosbie; Disappointed in the Man I Once Revered; The Globe and Mail (Canada); Feb 26, 2005.

“Joe Perici Calascione insisted that Malta can derogate from the EU’s trapping ban.”
Tim Diacono; Hunters’ Boss Claims Malta Can Win EU Court Battle for Bird Trapping; Malta Today (San Gwann, Malta); Sep 23, 2015.

See more usage examples of derogate in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: