deference
nounUK /ˈdɛfəɹəns/ · US /ˈdɛ.fɚ.əns/
Etymology From French déférence. Morphologically defer + -ence.
1
Great respect.
- The children treated their elders with deference.
2
The willingness to carry out the wishes of others.
- By tidying his room, he showed deference to his mother.
- Michael in turn benefits from Tom. He loosens up a bit, stops talking so much like one of the bad novels he used to read, and learns to give his intellect a rest once in a while in deference to the emotions.1983 December 31, Kenneth Hale-Wehmann, “The Business of Sex and Affection”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 24, page 8:
- Derived terms
- in deference to, nondeference, overdeference