English Online Dictionary. What means deny? What does deny mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier (“to deny, to repudiate”) (French dénier), from Latin denegare (“to deny, to refuse”), from de- (“away”) and negare (“to refuse”), the latter ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“no, not”). Doublet of denegate.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɪˈnaɪ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /dəˈnaɪ/, /dɪ-/
- Rhymes: -aɪ
- Hyphenation: de‧ny
Verb
deny (third-person singular simple present denies, present participle denying, simple past and past participle denied)
- (transitive) To disallow or reject.
- Antonym: grant
- (transitive) To assert that something is not true.
- (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
- Antonym: grant
- To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
- (sports, transitive) To prevent from scoring.
- To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
- (obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs.
- Deny can have a connotation that the denial is false; he denied knowing the accused has a more suspicious tone than he said he did not know the accused. However, in some formal usages, e.g. medical records, it can have a more neutral sense (patient denies chest pain).
- Although common, it is incorrect to use this word with the preposition of. Instead of denied of, the preferred expressions are deprive of or simply deny. [4]
Conjugation
Synonyms
- (assert something is not true): gainsay, contradict, withsay, refute, disclaim
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “disallow”): allow
- (antonym(s) of “assert something is true”): confirm, affirm
Derived terms
Related terms
- denial
Translations
Anagrams
- dyne, Endy, E.D.N.Y., EDNY, Ynde
Middle English
Verb
deny
- Alternative form of denyen