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• de
  de

  preposition

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

  abbreviation

  Delaware (approved especially for use with zip code).
• de'
  de'

  preposition

  dei (used in Italian names as an elided form ofdei ).
• de-
  de-

  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.
  D.E.

  abbreviation

  Doctor of Engineering.

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

Deere DE 0.43%increase; green up pointing triangle posted higher fiscal second-quarter sales as growth in the company’s construction equipment business helped to offset weakness in its production agriculture segment.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Separately, there have been warnings from DE to schools that they will face "serious challenges" as their budgets will only rise by around 1% in 2026/27.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

The winners include McDonald’s, Exxon Mobil XOM -2.44%decrease; red down pointing triangle and tractor maker Deere DE 0.07%increase; green up pointing triangle .

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

Deere DE -1.26%decrease; red down pointing triangle raised its fiscal-year outlook and said demand in the construction and small agriculture markets was recovering.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026

DE KALB, a city of De Kalb county, Illinois, U.S.A., in the N. part of the state, about 58 m.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various