detourn.
/ˈdiːtʊə/, /ˈdiːtɔː/, /ˈdeɪtʊə/, /ˈdeɪtɔː/, /deɪˈtʊə/, U.S. /ˈdiˌtʊ(ə)r/ A turning or deviation from the direct road; a roundabout or circuitous way, course, or proceeding. In 18th cent. mostly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > [noun] > deviation from straight course
turna1400
circuit1483
circumferencea1549
wrying1592
extravagation1611
extravagancya1616
extravagance1644
deviation1646
outstepping1656
left1675
detour1738
1738 W. Warburton Divine Legation Moses I. 63 After many Detours, Mr. Bayle is at length brought to own [etc.].
1780 H. Walpole Let. to W. Mason 1 Nov. We are above détours.
1794 R. H. Lee in Washington's Writ. (1891) XII. 417 (note) Upon our guard against all the arts and détours of the subtlest policy.
1807 R. C. Hoare Tour Ireland 237 I was amply recompensed for this detour.
1809 W. Scott Let. 14 June (1932) II. 199 I ought in conscience to have made ten thousand pretty detours about all this.
1825 W. Scott Let. 22 Jan. (1935) VIII. 489 Perhaps they may make a detour in their journey to see you.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows (1871) 242 Rhyming [words]..sometimes..have driven the most straightforward of poets into an awkward détour.
1877 W. Black Green Pastures (1878) xliv. 357 To avoid these ruts we made long detours.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. x. [Wandering Rocks] 231 Better turn down here. Make a detour.
1923 E. O'Neill Hairy Ape 50 They make wide detours to avoid the spot where he stands in the middle of the pavement.
1966 ‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 26 It's no use travelling by the compass if one has to make wide detours.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
detourv.
a. intransitive, to make a detour; to turn aside from the direct way; to go round about.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)] > change course or turn off > diverge from direct course > make a detour
to cast, fet, fetch, go, take a compass?a1500
to fetch a windlass1530
to fetch about1551
to fetch, make, take a circuit1665
elbow1804
detour1836
1836 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 3 481 This has been a busy week; rambling and climbing, touring and detouring.
1837 New Monthly Mag. 51 192 We..detoured again to the right.
1937 D. Aldis Time at Her Heels x. 225 Mary detoured to pick up her bag from the table.
1955 E. Bowen World of Love ii. 41 A stranger, who detoured to drop them at the Montefort gates.
b. transitive. To send by a detour. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > guidance in travel > show (the way) [verb (transitive)] > send by a roundabout route
detour1905
1905 N.Y. Evening Post 18 Sept. The Missouri Pacific is detouring its St. Louis—Kansas City trains over the Burlington Railway via Chillicothe.
1967 Boston Globe 18 May 12/2 (caption) Workman carries signs detouring motorists off Cambridge st. and Broadway.
Draft additions 1993
c. To make a detour round; to bypass.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > pass round
round1743
flank1893
bypass1928
detour1941
1941 C. Graves Life Line 75 Sylvia B. picked up all the survivors instead of leaving them for the motor-launches to rescue. The other vessels astern just detoured her.
1946 J. Hersey Hiroshima ii. 47 A station on a railroad line that detoured the city in a wide semi-circle.
1960 K. Amis Take Girl like You v. 75 There was a long queue at the High Street traffic lights, mainly composed of westbound lorries detouring a more severe bottle-neck nearer London.
1986 Aviation Week 8 Dec. 93/1 The POM states, in part, that when a flight encounters thunderstorm conditions, ‘detour the area’ if possible.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.1738
v.1836