de

¹

[duh, duh, de, di]

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

abbreviation

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

2. destroyer escort.

de'

³

[duh, de]

preposition

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

   de' Medici.

de-

⁴

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

abbreviation

1. Doctor of Engineering.

2. driver education.

de-

¹

prefix

1. removal of or from something specified

   deforest

   dethrone

2. reversal of something

   decode

   decompose

   desegregate

3. departure from

   decamp

DE

²

abbreviation

1. (formerly in Britain) Department of Employment

2. Delaware

de

³

/ 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

de

⁴

abbreviation

1. Germany

Word History and Origins

Origin of de¹

From French, Portuguese, Spanish, from Latin dē

Origin of de²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of de¹

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 )

Origin of de²

from Latin dē; see _de-