Deny
/dɪˈnaɪ/noun
To state that something is not true, or to refuse to give or allow something.
Did you know?Deny comes from Latin *denegare*, literally “to refuse outright,” built from *de-* (“completely, away”) + *negare* (“to say no”), the same root family behind *negation* and *abnegation*.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ne*
“the basic negating particle, “not””
Latin
Latin
negāre
“to say no, deny, refuse”
Latin
Latin
dēnegāre
“to refuse flatly, reject, deny”
Old French
Old French
denier
“to deny, refuse, disown”
Middle English
English
denien
“to deny, refuse, reject”
Modern English
English
deny
“to state that something is untrue or refuse to grant or accept it”
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