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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.


DE 2 American  

abbreviation

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

  2. destroyer escort.


de' 3 American  
[duh, de] / də, dɛ /

preposition

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

    de' Medici.


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 ).


D.E. 5 American  

abbreviation

  1. Doctor of Engineering.

  2. driver education.


de- 1 British  

prefix

  1. removal of or from something specified

    deforest

    dethrone

  2. reversal of something

    decode

    decompose

    desegregate

  3. departure from

    decamp

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

DE 2 British  

abbreviation

  1. (formerly in Britain) Department of Employment

  2. Delaware

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

de 4 British  

abbreviation

  1. Germany

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of de1

From French, Portuguese, Spanish, from Latin

Origin of de-4

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The de facto leader of the movement was Stanley Stein, a former pharmacist from Texas, who founded The STAR, Carville’s patient-run magazine, shortly after his arrival in 1931.

From Salon

Jay, with his bouffant curly hair and preternatural ability to remember the smallest details, became a de facto musical matchmaker.

From Los Angeles Times

Set in the Llanos de Moxos, a vast network of savannas, gallery forests, and floodplains that make up the largest wetland system in the Amazon basin, this area has inspired curiosity for centuries.

From Science Daily

The terrain of the Llanos de Moxos is filled with geometric forms that reveal themselves on closer inspection.

From Science Daily

These efforts emphasize that the Llanos de Moxos is not only a center of biodiversity but also a landscape shaped through long human histories, and they support continued management of the Yata River Ramsar site and the protected areas connected to it.

From Science Daily