de

[duh; French duh; Spanish de; Portuguese di]

preposition

from; of (used in French, Spanish, and Portuguese personal names, originally to indicate place of origin): Comte de Rochambeau; Don Ricardo de Aragón.

Origin of de

< French, Spanish, Portuguese < Latin dē

DE

Delaware (approved especially for use with zip code).

destroyer escort.

D & E

or D and E

dilation and extraction.

de'

[duh; Italian de]

preposition

dei (used in Italian names as an elided form of dei): de' Medici.

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).Compare di-², dis-¹.

Origin of de-

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

D.E.

Doctor of Engineering.

driver education.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for de

Contemporary Examples of de

The band was still on its way back as De Blasio and his wife departed.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss
Michael Daly
January 5, 2015
Yet even after the funeral protest, de Blasio was booed and heckled while addressing a new class of recruits as well.
We Need Our Police to Be Better Than This
Nick Gillespie
December 31, 2014
The ceremony ended with a singing of “God Bless America,” with some of those in the stands as well as de Blasio singing along.
Cop Families Boo De Blasio at NYPD Graduation
Michael Daly
December 30, 2014
On Monday, de Blasio called for a temporary halt to protests until after the funerals of the two slain officers.
Trayvon Martin’s Family Rejects ‘Dead Cops’ Marchers
Jacob Siegel
December 24, 2014
After the shooting, the police literally turned their backs on de Blasio during a press conference.
GOP Won’t Forgive Rand for Cop Critique
Lloyd Green
December 23, 2014

Historical Examples of de

Where shall I find a quiet church where I may say his De profundis in peace?
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
De Lord had been with them in six troubles, and he would not desert them in de seventh.
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
You said, 'We hadn't got nothin' to eat in de house,' and what did I say to you?
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
"De Lawd will provide" was her motto, and He never failed her.
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
De Lord A'mighty 'd come and frightened 'em all out of de waters.
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford

British Dictionary definitions for de

de

De, before a vowel d' or before a vowel D'

of; from: occurring as part of some personal names and originally indicating place of originSimon de Montfort; D'Arcy; de la Mare

Word Origin for de

from Latin dē; see de-

de

the internet domain name for

Germany

DE

abbreviation for

(formerly in Britain) Department of Employment

Delaware

de-

prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives

removal of or from something specifieddeforest; dethrone

reversal of somethingdecode; decompose; desegregate

departure fromdecamp

Word Origin for de-

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)

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

Word Origin and History for de

Latin adverb and preposition of separation in space, meaning "down from, off, away from," and figuratively "concerning, by reason of, according to;" from PIE demonstrative stem *de- (see to).

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many words inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words. As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative -- "not, do the opposite of, undo" -- which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), etc. Cf. also dis-.

de in Medicine

D & E

abbr.

dilation and evacuation

de-

pref.

Do or make the opposite of; reverse:decomposition.

Remove or remove from:deoxygenation.

Reduce; degrade:decholesterolization.