Det.
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Detective |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Writing & Everyday, Units & Measurements, Education & Academia |
| Also written | DET, det, det. |
Det. has four meanings. The most common are Detective (title and honorific) and Determinant (math); it can also stand for Determiner and Duolingo English Test.
Meanings of Det. at a glance
| # | Det. stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detective | Writing & Everyday › Title and Honorific |
| 2 | Determinant | Units & Measurements › Math |
| 3 | Determiner | Writing & Everyday › Grammar and Dictionary |
| 4 | Duolingo English Test | Education & Academia › Standardized Test |
1. Detective
Writing & Everyday · Title and Honorific Abbreviations · also used in government
Investigator's title in police departments, placed before the name in news stories, police reports and courtroom testimony. Detectives handle follow-up investigation of crimes after patrol officers respond.
Example: Det. Morales testified that the security footage matched the suspect's description.
In many US departments, detective is an assignment or grade rather than a rank above sergeant. UK forces prefix ranks with "Detective" to produce abbreviations such as DC (detective constable), DS and DI. Combinations such as Det. Sgt. and Det. Lt. appear in American news copy. The plural is Dets.
2. Determinant (det)
Units & Measurements · Math Abbreviations
A scalar computed from a square matrix that tells whether it is invertible (det ≠ 0) and how the corresponding linear transformation scales area or volume. For a 2 × 2 matrix with rows (a, b) and (c, d), det = ad − bc.
Example: Since det A = 0, the system has either no solution or infinitely many.
A negative determinant means the transformation reverses orientation, like a mirror image. Determinants appear in Cramer's rule, the cross product and the change-of-variables formula in multivariable calculus. They predate matrices: Seki Takakazu in Japan and Gottfried Leibniz in Europe studied them in the late 17th century. Software computes them via LU decomposition rather than slow cofactor expansion.
3. Determiner (det.)
Writing & Everyday · Grammar and Dictionary Abbreviations
Marks words that come before a noun to specify quantity, possession or definiteness, such as "this," "my," "some," "every" and the articles. Learner's dictionaries and modern grammars use the label widely.
Example: several (det.) more than two but not many: "several days later"
Traditional grammars often classed determiners as adjectives or pronouns, while modern reference grammars treat them as a separate class. A noun phrase normally takes only one central determiner, so "the my book" is ungrammatical in English, though it is normal in Italian ("il mio libro"). As a police title, Det. means detective.
4. Duolingo English Test (DET)
Education & Academia · Standardized Test Abbreviations
Online English proficiency test of about one hour that candidates take at home under webcam proctoring, scored from 10 to 160. Introduced in 2016, it gained wide acceptance among US universities during the pandemic because of its low fee and fast results.
Example: The college accepts a DET score of 120 in place of a TOEFL iBT score of 90.
Questions are adaptive, and results usually arrive within about two days. Many universities publish concordance tables linking DET scores to TOEFL and IELTS equivalents. Some visa authorities do not accept it, so international students should check immigration rules as well as admission requirements.
Related abbreviations
More title and honorific abbreviations
- DBE – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- DCI – Detective Chief Inspector
- Del. – Delegate
- Dep. – Deputy
- DI – Detective Inspector
- Dir. – Director
- Dr. – Doctor
- DS – Detective Sergeant
See all 54 title and honorific abbreviations →