Detect
late Middle English: from Latin detect- ‘uncovered’, from the verb detegere, from de- (expressing reversal) + tegere ‘to cover’. The original senses were ‘uncover, expose’ and ‘give someone away’, later ‘expose the real or hidden nature of’; hence the current (partly influenced by detective).
wiktionary
From Latin detectus, perfect passive participle of detegere(“to uncover or disclose”), from de- + tegere(“to cover”); see tegument, tile, thatch
etymonline
detect (v.)
early 15c., "uncover, lay bare, expose, disclose, reveal," a sense now obsolete, from Latin detectus, past participle of detegere "uncover, expose," figuratively "discover, reveal, disclose," from de "un-, off" (see de-) + tegere "to cover," from PIE root *(s)teg- "to cover."
Sense of "to find out the secret action or character of" is from 1580s. Meaning "discover, find out, ascertain" is from 1756. Related: Detected; detecting.
