detención
/detenˈθjon/feminine
The English word "detention" is translated into Spanish as detención.
detención refers to a punishment given to a student for a minor infraction.
Meaning: punishment given to a student for a minor infraction (noun)
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, reclusión can sometimes be used to refer to detention.
How do you pronounce it?
/detenˈθjon/
Did you know?
- While detención refers to school punishment in some regions, it is far more commonly used in Spanish to describe a police arrest.
- Detención shares a linguistic root with the English word 'tenacious', as both come from the Latin root for holding or gripping.
- Because detención shares the same root as the verb detener, it can also be used to describe a 'delay' in a process, such as a commercial shipment or a train's arrival.
Examples in context
- El estudiante recibió una detención por llegar tarde a clase.The student received a detention for arriving late to class.
- La detención fue por llegar tarde.The detention was for arriving late.
Example conversation
Two students are talking in the school hallway.
- SofíaMateo, ¿por qué estás triste?Mateo, why are you sad?
- MateoTengo detención el viernes.I have detention on Friday.
- Sofía¡Qué mal! ¿Qué hiciste?That's too bad! What did you do?
- MateoLlegué tarde a la clase de historia.I arrived late to history class.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “detention” translations and entries detención, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
