deferent
/ˈdɛfəɹənt/ adjective, noun
Forms deferents
- adjective Showing deference; deferential.
- noun (anatomy) A duct in the body serving to carry away from, as opposed to an afferent one.
- noun (historical, Ptolemaic astronomy) 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.
- noun (obsolete) That which carries or conveys.
- adjective (obsolete) Serving to carry; bearing.
Synonyms
Etymology
From defer and deference; see -ent.
From Middle English defferent, from Middle French deferent (modern French déférent) or its etymon Latin dēferēns, dēferentis.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Serving to carry; bearing. [R.] "Bodies deferent." Bacon.
- noun That which carries or conveys.
- noun An imaginary circle surrounding the earth, in whose periphery either the heavenly body or the center of the heavenly body's epicycle was supposed to be carried round.
Etymology [L. deferens, p. pr. of deferre. See 3d Defer.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “deferent”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details