Word.ws English Dictionary

derogates

derogates is the third-person singular simple present indicative of derogate.

Meaning of derogate

Verb

derogate (third-person singular simple present derogates, present participle derogating, simple past and past participle derogated)

  1. (transitive) 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
  2. (transitive) 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
  3. (ambitransitive) 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
  4. (intransitive) 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
  5. (intransitive) 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...

See all 7 meanings of derogate

Questions about derogates

What is derogates the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Derogates is the third-person singular simple present indicative of derogate.

Words near derogates in the dictionary

  1. derogant
  2. derogatable
  3. derogate
  4. derogated
  5. derogately
  6. derogates
  7. derogatest
  8. derogateth
  9. derogating
  10. derogation
  11. derogations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: derogates (page history and authors); derogate (page history and authors). 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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