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 )

Example Sentences

And how did he and his co-defendants, Mar-a-Lago staff members Carlos De Oliveira and Walt Nauta, conspire to resist the government’s lawful demands to return the documents?

From Los Angeles Times

I first met him a decade ago, when he was part of Occupy Santa Ana and a volunteer for the Santa Ana-based nonprofit El Centro Cultural de México.

From Los Angeles Times

Eric Ortiz, 34, died from gunshot wounds to the chest, De Jong said.

From Los Angeles Times

De Jong said a group of gang members who were not veterans had rented the VFW hall for some type of gathering.

From Los Angeles Times

Most attendees had left by the time police arrived, and De Jong said his detectives have “no suspect information whatsoever.”

From Los Angeles Times