▪ I. deferential, a.1
(dɛfəˈrɛnʃəl)
[f. deference (or its L. type *dēferentia) + -al1: cf. essence, essential, prudence, prudential, etc.]
Characterized by deference; showing deference; respectful.
| 1822 Scott Nigel xxii, If you seek deferential observance and attendance, I tell you at once you will not find them here. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xvii, She was marvellously deferential to Madame Mantalini. 1870 Disraeli Lothair xxviii, The Duke..could be soft and deferential to women. |
Hence deferentiˈality n., deference; defeˈrentially adv., in a deferential manner.
| 1880 Cornh. Mag. Feb. 183 His master he recognises as such with respectful deferentiality. a 1846 Gentlem. Mag. cited in Worcester for deferentially. 1848 C. Brontë J. Eyre vii. (1873) 61 These ladies were deferentially received..and conducted to seats of honour. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. i, Deferentially observant of his master's face. |
▪ II. defeˈrential, a.2 Phys.
[a. F. déférentiel (e.g. artère déférentielle), f. déférent, deferent a.1: see -al1.]
Serving to convey or conduct; pertaining to the deferent duct.
| 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. xi. 640 The deferential end of the testicular tube opens into a sac close to the anus. 1883 Syd. Soc. Lex., Deferential artery, a small branch supplied to the vas deferens by one of the branches of the superior vesical artery. |