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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

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

Told during a Zoom interview that Sofia seemed more like Lucrezia Borgia and Catherine de’ Medici than a comic book character, Milioti matter-of-factly says, “That’s certainly incredible company to be in.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2024

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

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