Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
deteriorate — de‧te‧ri‧o‧rate [dɪˈtɪəriəreɪt ǁ ˈtɪr ] verb [intransitive] to become worse: • The economy deteriorated further in August, with orders for manufactured goods falling. deterioration noun [countable, uncountable] : • a deterioration in sales * * *… … Financial and business terms
Deteriorate — De*te ri*o*rate (d[ e]*t[=e] r[i^]*[ o]*r[=a]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deteriorated} (d[ e]*t[=e] r[i^]*[ o]*r[=a] t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Deteriorating} (d[ e]*t[=e] r[i^]*[ o]*r[=a] t[i^]ng).] [L. deterioratus, p. p. of deteriorare to… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
deteriorate — de*te ri*o*rate (d[ e]*t[=e] r[i^]*[ o]*r[=a]t), v. i. To grow worse; to be impaired in quality; to degenerate. [1913 Webster] Under such conditions, the mind rapidly deteriorates. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
deteriorate — I verb adulterate, aggravate, atrophy, become worse, collapse, corrode, corrumpere, corrupt, debase, debauch, debilitate, decay, decline, decompose, decrease, defile, degenerate, degrade, demoralize, denature, depravare, depreciate, devalue,… … Law dictionary
deteriorate — 1640s (as a pp. adj., 1570s), from L.L. deterioratus, pp. of deteriorare get worse, make worse, from L. deterior worse, lower, inferior, meaner, contrastive of *deter bad, lower, from PIE *de tero , from demonstrative stem *de (see DE (Cf. de)).… … Etymology dictionary
deteriorate — should be pronounced with all five syllables articulated. Pronunciation as if it were deteriate is often heard but should be avoided. A similar problem occurs with temporary and other words … Modern English usage
deteriorate — [v] decay, degenerate adulterate, alloy, become worse, be worse for wear*, break, corrode, corrupt, crumble, debase, debilitate, decline, decompose, degrade, deprave, depreciate, descend, disimprove, disintegrate, ebb, fade, fail, fall apart,… … New thesaurus
deteriorate — ► VERB ▪ become progressively worse. DERIVATIVES deterioration noun. ORIGIN Latin deteriorare, from deterior worse … English terms dictionary
deteriorate — [dē tir′ē ə rāt΄, ditir′ē ə rāt΄] vt., vi. deteriorated, deteriorating [< LL deterioratus, pp. of deteriorare, to make worse < L deterior, worse, inferior < * deter, below < de , from + ter, compar. suffix] to make or become worse;… … English World dictionary
deteriorate — 01. Grandpa s health has [deteriorated] a lot in the last few hours, and he isn t expected to live through the night. 02. Attempts at peace talks are continuing amid fears that the situation will [deteriorate] into a full scale war. 03. Weather… … Grammatical examples in English
deteriorate */ — UK [dɪˈtɪərɪəreɪt] / US [dɪˈtɪrɪəˌreɪt] verb [intransitive] Word forms deteriorate : present tense I/you/we/they deteriorate he/she/it deteriorates present participle deteriorating past tense deteriorated past participle deteriorated to become… … English dictionary
