# detective

Pronunciation: US say "di-TEK-tiv" /dɪˈtɛktɪv/; UK

## Noun

1. A police officer assigned to gather evidence and information in order to solve crimes.
   - Simple: A police worker who looks for clues and facts to find out who did a crime.
   - _The detective pieced together the suspect's movements from security footage._
   - _She was promoted to detective after eight years on patrol._
2. A person hired to uncover information that is not otherwise available to the public.
   - Simple: A person paid to find facts that ordinary people cannot easily get.
   - _The company brought in a detective to investigate the leaked documents._
   - _Her sister hired a detective to confirm her suspicions about the business partner._

## Adjective

3. Concerned with or used in the work of detecting crime or uncovering facts.
   - Simple: Used for finding out about crimes or hidden facts.
   - _His detective instincts told him the witness's story didn't add up._
   - _The agency offered detective services to worried clients across the region._

## Origin

The adjective derives from Classical Latin dētēct-, the past participial stem of dētegō ("to detect"), combined with "-ive." The noun is a shortening of a longer phrase such as "detective policeman" or "detective officer."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/detective (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).