Meaning
A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.
Etymology
Origin: Latin
The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. By surface analysis, detect + -ive. Noun sense 1 is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction. The later more general noun sense 2 was derived by extension. The verb is also from the noun. Noun sense 3 (“a work of detective fiction”) is a semantic loan from Dutch detective and Russian детекти́в (detektív), both from English.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 4 recorded puzzles: