de novo

[ dee noh-voh, dey, dih; Latin de noh-woh ]

adverb

1. anew; afresh; again; from the beginning:

   We reviewed the court’s decision de novo during the rehearing.

2. independently of external forces; from within; spontaneously:

   Mutations associated with autism often occur de novo rather than through inheritance.

adjective

1. occurring or arising spontaneously or independently of external forces; spontaneous: de novo synthesis of steroids from cholesterol.

   de novo mutations;

   de novo synthesis of steroids from cholesterol.

2. made from scratch rather than developed from or based on something preexisting, and hence new, novel, or of a new type: de novo banks.

   de novo protein design;

   de novo banks.

3. De No·vo, noting or related to a type of FDA classification allowing novel medical devices with no precedent on the market to be sold: De Novo classification.

   a De Novo request;

   De Novo classification.

de novo

/ diː ˈnəʊvəʊ /

adverb

1. from the beginning; anew

Word History and Origins

Origin of de novo¹

First recorded in 1620–30; from Latin dē novō “anew, afresh, again”

Example Sentences

Out of this vast sea of mud Nature has had to evolve another creation, beginning de novo, with her lowest forms.

From Project Gutenberg

The court treated it as an original proceeding, even as to questions of fact; and proceeded to consider it de novo.

From Project Gutenberg

By its very nature a duct is a structure which can hardly arise de novo.

From Project Gutenberg

As is well known, a language is not created de novo, but by a slow process of development.

From Project Gutenberg

In the illustration above we have assumed that a monopoly was starting de novo.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• afresh
• once again
• once more
• recently