derogate

Etymology

Borrowed from (the participle stem of) Latin dērogāre (“to annul, repeal part of a law, take away, detract from”), from de- (“from”) + rogāre (“to propose a law, ask”). Compare abrogate, arrogate, interrogate.

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To partially repeal (a law etc.).
   By several contrary customs, […] many of the civil and canon laws are controlled and derogated. 1713, Matthew Hale, A History and Analysis of the Common Law of England
2. (transitive) To detract from (something); to disparage, belittle.
   I never thought the human frailty of erring in cases of religion, infamy to a state, no more than to a council: it had therefore been neither civil nor christianly, to derogate the honour of the state for that cause …. 1642, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus
   When the need for self-affirmation is satisfied through other means, one is less compelled to derogate members of negatively stereotyped groups. 1999, Ziva Kunda, Social Cognition, page 222
   Bandura (1990) gave a related example of gas chamber operators in Nazi prison camps, who found it necessary to derogate and dehumanize their victims rather than become overwhelmed by distress. 2001, Russell Cropanzano, Justice in the Workplace, volume II, page 104
3. (transitive, intransitive) To take away (something from something else) in a way which leaves it lessened.
   Anything […] that should derogate, minish, or hurt his glory and his name. 1532, Thomas More, The Supper of the Lord
4. (intransitive) To remove a part, to detract from (a quality of excellence, authority etc.).
   In doing so she had derogated from her dignity and committed herself. 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 147
   God does not have the attributes of a Christian Providence, for it would derogate from His perfection to think about anything except what is perfect, i.e. Himself. 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19
   The six-member Committee on Standards and Conduct unanimously recommended that the Senate censure the Connecticut Democrat for behavior that is "contrary to good morals, derogates from the public trust expected of a Senator, and tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." 5 Dec 1967, “The undoing of Dodd”, in Time
5. (intransitive) To act in a manner below oneself; to debase oneself.
   Would Charles X. derogate from his ancestors? Would he be the degenerate scion of that royal line? 1830 August, William Hazlitt, edited by P.P. Howe, The Complete Works of William Hazlitt, published 1967, page 302

adj

1. (archaic) debased