de

¹

[ duh; French duh; Spanish de; Portuguese di ]

preposition

1. from; of (used in French, Spanish, and Portuguese personal names, originally to indicate place of origin):

   Comte de Rochambeau; Don Ricardo de Aragón.

DE

²

abbreviation for

1. Delaware (approved especially for use with zip code).
2. destroyer escort.

de'

³

[ duh; Italian de ]

preposition

1. dei (used in Italian names as an elided form of dei ):

   de' Medici.

de-

⁴

1. a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin ( decide ); also used to indicate privation, removal, and separation ( dehumidify ), negation ( demerit; derange ), descent ( degrade; deduce ), reversal ( detract ), intensity ( decompound ). Compare di- ², dis- ¹.

D.E.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. Doctor of Engineering.
2. driver education.

de

¹

the internet domain name for

1. Germany

de

²

/ də /

(no translation)

1. of; from: occurring as part of some personal names and originally indicating place of origin

   de la Mare

   Simon de Montfort

   D'Arcy

DE

³

abbreviation for

1. (formerly in Britain) Department of Employment
2. Delaware

de-

⁴

prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives

1. removal of or from something specified

   dethrone

   deforest

2. reversal of something

   decode

   decompose

   desegregate

3. departure from

   decamp

Word History and Origins

Origin of de¹

From French, Portuguese, Spanish, from Latin dē

Origin of de²

Middle English < Latin dē-, prefixal use of dē (preposition) from, away from, of, out of; in some words, < French < Latin dē- or dis- dis- ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of de¹

from Latin dē; see de-

Origin of de²

from Latin, from dē (prep) from, away from, out of, etc. In compound words of Latin origin, de- also means away, away from ( decease ); down ( degrade ); reversal ( detect ); removal ( defoliate ); and is used intensively ( devote ) and pejoratively ( detest )