deferent

¹ American  

[def-er-uhnt] / ˈdɛf ər ənt /

adjective

1. marked by or showing deference.

   She was always deferent to her elders.

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deferent ² American  

[def-er-uhnt] / ˈdɛf ər ənt /

adjective

Anatomy.

1. conveying away; efferent.

2. of or relating to the vas deferens.

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noun

1. Astronomy. (in the Ptolemaic system) the circle around the earth in which a celestial body or the center of the epicycle of its orbit was thought to move.

deferent ¹ British  

/ ˈdɛfərənt /

adjective

1. (esp of a bodily nerve, vessel, or duct) conveying an impulse, fluid, etc, outwards, down, or away; efferent

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noun

1. astronomy (in the Ptolemaic system) a circle centred on the earth around which the centre of the epicycle was thought to move

deferent ² British  

/ ˈdɛfərənt /

adjective

1. another word for deferential

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Etymology

Origin of deferent¹

First recorded in 1815–25; defer ² + -ent

Origin of deferent²

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin dēferent- (stem of dēferēns ), present participle of dēferre. See defer ², -ent