derogate
/ˈdɛɹəɡeɪt/
derogate verb: to partially repeal (a law etc.).
Verb
derogate (third-person singular simple present derogates, present participle derogating, simple past and past participle derogated)
- To partially repeal (a law etc.).
- By several contrary customs, […] many of the civil and canon laws are controlled and derogated.1713, Matthew Hale, A History and Analysis of the Common Law of England
- To detract from (something); to disparage, belittle.
- I never thought the human frailty of erring in cases of religion, infamy to a state, no more than to a council: it had therefore been neither civil nor christianly, to derogate the honour of the state for that cause [...].1642, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus
- When the need for self-affirmation is satisfied through other means, one is less compelled to derogate members of negatively stereotyped groups.1999, Ziva Kunda, Social Cognition, page 222
- Synonyms:
- vilify, depreciate, downplay, bagatellize, banalize, belittle, cut down, de-emphasize, denigrate, degrade
- Antonyms:
- praise, laud, glorify, big up, cut it fat, exaggerate, hyperbolize, overcharge, overdo, overemphasize
- To take away (something from something else) in a way which leaves it lessened.
- Anything […] that should derogate, minish, or hurt his glory and his name.1532, Thomas More, The Supper of the Lord
- It derogates little from his fortitude, while it adds infinitely to the honor of his humanity.1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC
- To detract from (a quality of excellence, authority etc.).
- In doing so she had derogated from her dignity and committed herself.1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, →ISBN, page 147
- God does not have the attributes of a Christian Providence, for it would derogate from His perfection to think about anything except what is perfect, i.e. Himself.1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19
- To act in a manner below oneself; to debase oneself.
- CLOTEN. Is it fit I went to look upon him? Is there no derogation in't?
SECOND LORD. You cannot derogate, my lord.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard... - Would Charles X. derogate from his ancestors? Would he be the degenerate scion of that royal line?1830 August, William Hazlitt, edited by P.P. Howe, The Complete Works of William Hazlitt, published 1967, page 302
- CLOTEN. Is it fit I went to look upon him? Is there no derogation in't?
Adjective
derogate (comparative more derogate, superlative most derogate)
- Derogated, annulled in part.
- The once made oblation of Christes is herby derogate, when this sacramentall oblation and offering of thankes geuing is beleued to be propiciatory, and that it purgeth the soule, as well of the lyuynge as of the deade, agaynst this saying to the Hebrues: with one only oblation he hath made perfect...1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, “The Martyrdom of Frankesh, Middleton and Sheterden”, in Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC...
- Debased, deteriorated.
- It may be ſo, my Lord.
Heare Nature, heare deere Goddeſſe, heare :
Suſpend thy purpoſe, if thou did'ſt intend To make this Creature fruitfull :
Into her Wombe conuey ſtirrility,
Drie vp in her the Organs of increaſe,
And from her derogate body, neuer ſpring
A Babe to honor her.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- It may be ſo, my Lord.
derogate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Thai
derogate in Tamil
- சிறுமைப்படுத்துகிற, தகுதிகுறை, மதிப்புக் குறை
derogate in Urdu
- ضرر رسانی کرنا
derogate in Malayalam
- belittle, disparage, denigrate
- ലഘുത്വം കാട്ടുക, നിസ്സാരമായി സംസാരിക്കുക, ഇടിച്ചുസംസാരിക്കുക, വില കെടുക്കുക, സൽപ്പേരിനു കോട്ടം വരുത്തുക, കരിതേച്ചുകാണിക്കുക
- devalue, detract from, diminish
- അപകർഷപ്പെടുത്തുക, ലഘുത്വം വരുത്തുക, വിലകുറയ്ക്കുക, മതിപ്പുകുറയ്ക്കുക, വിലയിടിച്ചുകാണിക്കുക, അന്തസു കെടുത്തുക
- depart, deviate, diverge
- വ്യതിചലിക്കുക, ഭ്രംശിക്കുക, വ്യതിയാനം ചെയ്ക, വ്യത്യസ്തദിശയിൽ പോകുക, അകന്നുപോവുക, അകലുക
derogate in Thai
- to detract from something; to belittle; disparage
- ดูหมิ่น duu-mìn, ดูถูก duu-tùuk, ดูแคลน duu-klɛɛn, ด้อยค่า dɔ̂i-kâa
Synonyms of derogate
15 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of derogate
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | derogates |
| present participle | derogating |
| past participle | derogated |
| past | derogated |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more derogate |
| superlative | most derogate |
Origin of derogate
Inherited from Late Middle English derogaten, from derogat(e) (“annulled, abrogated”, used participially and later as the past participle of derogaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix) borrowed from Latin dērogātus, perfect passive participle of dērogō (“to annul, repeal part of a law, take away, detract from”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from dē- (“from”) + rogō (“to ask, enquire; to propose a law”). Sporadic participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
Inherited from Middle English derogat(e) (“annulled, abrogated”, used participially and later as the past participle of derogaten), see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
Words formed from derogate
Questions about derogate
- What does derogate mean?
- Derogate means to partially repeal (a law etc.).
- What is derogate in Tamil?
- Derogate in Tamil is சிறுமைப்படுத்துகிற, தகுதிகுறை, மதிப்புக் குறை. See Derogate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is derogate?
- Derogate can be a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce derogate?
- Derogate is pronounced /ˈdɛɹəɡeɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of derogate?
- The past tense of derogate is derogated.
Words near derogate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: derogate (page history and authors); derogate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); derogate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); derogate (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-derogate.wav.
Cite this entry: “derogate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/derogate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.