deprive
Definitions
To prevent someone from having or keeping something; to take something away from someone.
剥夺，使丧失（某人应有之物）。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedde- (thoroughly, completely) + prive (Latin privare 'to set apart, separate'). To 'separate' something from its owner is to take it away. The same 'set apart' idea behind private points the other direction here: not setting aside for someone, but stripping away from them.
Root priv still carries 7 more wordsWhy It Means This
Deprive shares its root with private, but flips the direction. Privare meant 'to set apart'; when you set something apart from the person who had it, you deprive them of it. That's why deprive almost always pairs with of: you deprive someone of sleep, of rights, of a fair chance — naming both the loser and the thing separated from them.
Usage Guide
Almost always used as deprive someone/something OF something — the of is not optional in normal use. Often passive: be deprived of (children deprived of education). The past participle deprived also works as an adjective meaning 'lacking necessities': a deprived neighborhood.
Example Sentences
- 1.
The new law would deprive thousands of workers of their pensions.
- 2.
Prisoners were deprived of sleep for days at a time.
- 3.
He felt the divorce had deprived him of seeing his children.
Easily Confused
deprive vs deny — Both involve withholding, but deprive takes away something already had or needed (deprive of sleep, rights), while deny refuses to give or grant in the first place (deny a request, deny access). You're deprived of what was yours; you're denied what you asked for.