Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Detract
De·tract′ (dē·trăkt′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Detracting.] [L. detractus, p. p. of detrahere to detract; de + trahere to draw: cf. F. détracter. See Trace.] 1. To take away; to withdraw.
Detract much from the view of the without. Sir H. Wotton.
2. To take credit or reputation from; to defame.
That calumnious critic . . . Detracting what laboriously we do. Drayton.
Syn. — To derogate; decry; disparage; depreciate; asperse; vilify; defame; traduce. See Decry.
De·tract′, v. i. To take away a part or something, especially from one's credit; to lessen reputation; to derogate; to defame; — often with from.
It has been the fashion to detract both from the moral and literary character of Cicero. V. Knox.