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

DuPont de Nemours stock, for example, gained 27% from the start of 2025 to just after it closed a spin in early November that year, beating the S&P 500’s 13% rise in that stretch.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Meanwhile in Mendoza, Virginia de Valle is making a point of talking to visitors to her family's vineyard about the changes to the law.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

Ahead of U.S.-Iranian talks in Pakistan over the weekend, Iran’s de facto control of the Strait of Hormuz remains a thorny issue, with traffic through the waterway still severely limited.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

In the 20th arrondissement, the typical dish of the Aveyron is aligot, a simple combination of Tomme de vache cheese, potatoes, butter and garlic.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Like a dandelion seed—se desprendió de mí—she pushed me off and flew at him, almost knocking him backward as he went down on one knee to receive her into his strong, protective arms.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall