de

¹ American  

[duh, duh, de, di] / də, də, dɛ, dɪ /

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.

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DE ² American  

abbreviation

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

2. destroyer escort.

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de' ³ American  

[duh, de] / də, dɛ /

preposition

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

   de' Medici.

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de- ⁴ American  

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 ).

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D.E. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Doctor of Engineering.

2. driver education.

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de- ¹ British  

prefix

1. removal of or from something specified

   deforest

   dethrone

2. reversal of something

   decode

   decompose

   desegregate

3. departure from

   decamp

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DE ² British  

abbreviation

1. (formerly in Britain) Department of Employment

2. Delaware

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de ³ British  

/ də /

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

   Simon de Montfort

   D'Arcy

   de la Mare

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de ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Germany

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Etymology

Origin of de¹

From French, Portuguese, Spanish, from Latin dē

Origin of de-⁴

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

Example Sentences

London Heathrow, Istanbul and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports were the only busier hubs on the continent.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

France’s national weather service is investigating anomalous temperature spikes at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, leading to lucrative Polymarket payoffs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Its Paris contract is based on the reading at Charles de Gaulle airport, as reported by Weather Underground, an online weather data provider.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Paul de Zylva, from the environmental group Friends of the Earth, says the debate about building on golf courses should be seen in the context of the "pressure on green spaces".

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

They leaped over the swells with the grace of a corps de ballet and plunged into the depths once more.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood