dent

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: dĕnt, IPA^(key): /dɛnt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Etymology 1

From Middle English dent, dente, dint (“a blow; strike; dent”), from Old English dynt (“blow, strike, the mark or noise of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *duntiz (“a blow”). Akin to Old Norse dyntr (“dint”). Doublet of dint.

Noun

dent (plural dents)

1. A shallow deformation in the surface of an object, produced by an impact.

   The crash produced a dent in the left side of the car.

2. (figurative) A minor effect made upon something.

   to make a dent

   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 392:

     "Case Of You" (#67, 1980), a single on the Scotti Brothers label, was Frank's first chart dent.

   • 2022, W. David Marx, chapter 10, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN:

     The transitoriness perhaps makes viral content the most representative form of culture in the twenty-first century: an era of vast quantities, deep specificity, and breakneck speed, where few individual artifacts, artworks, or conventions leave a dent in society or bend the curve of history.

3. A type of maize/corn with a relatively soft outer hull, and a soft type of starch that shrinks at maturity to leave an indentation in the surface of the kernel.
4. (by extension, informal) A sudden negative change, such as loss, damage, weakening, consumption or diminution, especially one produced by an external force, event or action

   That purchase put a bit of a dent in my wallet.

   • 2011 April 11, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Andy Carroll's first goals since his £35m move to Liverpool put a dent in Manchester City's Champions League hopes as they were emphatically swept aside at Anfield.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dent (third-person singular simple present dents, present participle denting, simple past and past participle dented)

1. (transitive) To impact something, producing a dent.
2. (intransitive) To develop a dent or dents.

   Copper is soft and dents easily.

Translations

Etymology 2

From French dent, from Latin dēns, dentis (“tooth”). Doublet of dens and tooth.

Noun

dent (plural dents)

1. (engineering) A tooth, as of a card, a gear wheel, etc.
2. (weaving) A slot or a wire in a reed

Anagrams

• 'tend, tend

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin dentem m.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

dent f (plural dents)

1. (anatomy) tooth
2. tooth (saw tooth)
3. tooth (gear tooth)

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “dent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “dent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “dent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “dent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Franco-Provençal

Alternative forms

• dè, din

Etymology

Inherited from Latin dentem.

Noun

dent m

1. tooth

References

• dent in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French dent f, with change of gender from Old French dent m, from Latin dentem m, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts, *h₃dónts.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: dam, dams, dans, dents

Noun

dent f (plural dents)

1. tooth
2. cog (tooth on a gear)

Derived terms

Further reading

• “dent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• tend

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dent/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /dent/,

Verb

dent

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of dō, "they may give"

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to dente, from Latin dens.

Noun

dent ?

1. tooth

Middle English

Noun

dent

1. Alternative form of dint

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French dent m.

Noun

dent f (plural dens)

1. tooth

Descendants

• French: dent f

Norman

Norman Wikipedia has an article on:

nrf:dent

Wikipedia ^nrf

Etymology

From Old French dent, from Latin dēns, dentem, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts, *h₃dónts.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Noun

dent m (plural dents)

1. (anatomy) tooth

Derived terms

• brînge à dents (“toothbrush”)

Related terms

• denchive (“gum”)

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin dentem m. Attested from the 12th century. Compare Catalan dent f.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

Noun

dent f (plural dents)

1. tooth

Related terms

References

Old French

Etymology

From Latin dēns, dente m.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdent/, /ˈdant/
• Rhymes: -ent

Noun

dent oblique singular, m (oblique plural denz or dentz, nominative singular denz or dentz, nominative plural dent)

1. (anatomy, of a comb) tooth

Descendants

• Middle French: dent f
  • French: dent f
• Walloon: dint f

Piedmontese

Etymology

From Latin dēns, dentem, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts, *h₃dónts.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛŋt/

Noun

dent m (plural dent)

1. tooth

Derived terms

• dentin
• denton
• dentera
• dentista

Romansch

Alternative forms

• daint (Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin dēns, dentem, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts, *h₃dónts.

Noun

dent m (plural dents)

1. (anatomy, Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) tooth

Derived terms

• pasta da dents (“toothpaste”)