Deferent
//ˈdɛfəɹənt// adj, noun
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A duct in the body serving to carry away from, as opposed to an afferent one.
- 2 An imaginary circle surrounding the Earth, in whose periphery either the heavenly body or the centre of the heavenly body's epicycle was supposed to be carried round. historical
- 3 That which carries or conveys. obsolete
"though air be the most favorable deferent of sounds"
Adjective
- 1 Showing deference; deferential.
- 2 Serving to carry; bearing. not-comparable, obsolete
"Bodies deferent."
Adjective
- 1 showing deference wordnet
Example
More examples"though air be the most favorable deferent of sounds"
Etymology
Etymology 1
From defer and deference; see -ent.
Etymology 2
From Middle English defferent, from Middle French deferent (modern French déférent) or its etymon Latin dēferēns, dēferentis.
Related phrases
More for "deferent"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.