Literary works employ "derogation" to suggest a diminishing or lessening of an ideal, quality, or authority. In some contexts it signals that a particular characteristic does not detract from inherent value—for instance, asserting that a woman's passion is by no means a derogation to her sex [1] or that a man’s reliance on counsel does not lessen his greatness [2]. In legal and constitutional discourse, it designates exceptions or limitations, as seen when international treaties are explained to involve no derogation of sovereign powers [3] or when statutes are interpreted in derogation of common law only in a strict sense [4]. The term is also versatile enough to capture personal sentiments, such as the feeling of a self-deprecation that diminishes familial dignity [5] or the notion that adherence to certain practices need not entail derogation from communal integrity [6].