de
preposition
from; of (used in French, Spanish, and Portuguese personal names, originally to indicate place of origin).
Jump To:
-
de
-
DE
-
de'
de'prepositiondei (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.abbreviationDoctor of Engineering.
de
1 American
[duh, duh, de, di]
/ də, də, dɛ, dɪ /
preposition
DE
2
American
de'
3
American
[duh, de]
/ də, dɛ /
preposition
de-
4
American
D.E.
5
American
abbreviation
-
Doctor of Engineering.
-
driver education.
de-
1
British
prefix
-
removal of or from something specified
deforest
dethrone
-
reversal of something
decode
decompose
desegregate
-
departure from
decamp
DE
2
British
abbreviation
-
(formerly in Britain) Department of Employment
-
Delaware
de
3
British
/ də /
de
4
British
abbreviation
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When Roberto de Zerbi took over last season, he wanted guarantees in the transfer market this summer - and judging by the players he has brought in, he got them.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
"This is a Tour de France original bicycle," from 1979, the 73-year-old added, holding up a piece of a rusted frame.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
My favorite sentiment indicator, the Investors Intelligence Bull/Bear ratio, recently came in at 3.88 on a de facto scale of around 0.5 to 5.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Pearce, the attorney who argued before the 9th Circuit, noted that judges in other parts of the country have nixed Trump administration maneuvers to keep de facto U.S. attorneys in power without Senate confirmation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
‘Look how the Van de Bergs are helping us,’ she said.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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
Nebraska farmer Guy Mills figures he has spent more than half a million dollars over the past eight years on repairs to his Deere DE 1.07%increase; green up pointing triangle tractors and harvesters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
The then Permanent Secretary in DE Dr Mark Browne called it the most difficult decision he had to make.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 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
DE MAINTENON, Fontainebleau Palace, France.—Madame de Maintenon was the second wife of Louis XIV., although no written proof of such a marriage is extant; but, that it took place, is nevertheless certain.
From Shepp's Photographs of the World by James W. Shepp
On Friday, an anonymous collector who goes by Cozomo de’ Medici announced on X that he’d bought two of the dogs, Picasso and Warhol, and former Sotheby’s chief executive Tad Smith bought an “Elon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Florence's Uffizi Gallery said a tourist fell backwards while trying to "make a meme in front" of a portrait of Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, by Anton Domenico Gabbiani.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2025
In the West, the durian was first recorded and observed in the early 15th century by Italian merchant and explorer Niccolò de' Conti.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2024
Catherine de’ Medici, the 16th century ruler of France, did the unthinkable for her time: She rose to power in a man’s world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2022
He began to campaign for such a return, and published the instruction manual for his compass in a limited edition book, dedicated to Prince Cosimo de’ Medici, in 1606.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Mr. Tisci said he was de- and reconstructing the pillars of the house: trenches, car coats and checks.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2022
While still used in food, now it is mainly mined as a chemical agent, water softener, or a de- icer for roads.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017
“It was a very, very de- pressing time.”
From MSNBC ● Mar. 21, 2015
As a 34-year-old, Leung became the head of the committee in 1988, responsible for drafting the Basic Law, the city’s de- facto constitution adopted after the former British colony was returned to China.
From BusinessWeek ● Nov. 25, 2011
Less de- fensibly, the nuns distrusted intellectual challenges to authority.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Shares fell at the start of the month after the D.E.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
The group’s members include a managing director of investment firm D.E.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Other top performers last year include Citadel, D.E.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
That announcement came almost a year after activist investor D.E.
From Reuters ● Jun. 20, 2023
The property of cohesion of small conductive bodies when influenced by Hertzian waves was first noticed in 1874 by Professor D.E.
From How it Works Dealing in simple language with steam, electricity, light, heat, sound, hydraulics, optics, etc., and with their applications to apparatus in common use by Archibald Williams
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
