Other forms: detachments
Detachment is being present without feeling connected. Cool detachment, emotional detachment, an air of detachment.
It can be a strength or a symptom: professional detachment is what lets a surgeon or a judge do the work, and emotional detachment as a response to distress is something clinicians take seriously. In the military, a detachment is a small group sent from a larger unit. In medicine, retinal detachment is an emergency. Note detached, which also describes a house standing on its own.
1noundetachmentBeing present without feeling connected.
“She watched the argument with calm detachment, as if it had nothing to do with her.”
2nounsmallA small group sent from a larger unit.
“A small detachment of soldiers was sent to guard the bridge.”
detachment is a separation.
French détachement comes from détacher, to unfasten — de- plus attacher. Attach and detach are the same fastening, taken in opposite directions.
French
détachement
English, today
detachment
From French détachement. by surface analysis, detach + -ment.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA