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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

Soccer, was first to the podium, flanked by De Maria and Victor Montagliani, then president of the Canadian federation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026

De Boisse does not deny that many – maybe most – of his punters are probably from the right, or hard right.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

To pull that off, “Cape Fear” needed a star as charismatic as Mitchum and De Niro.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

In order to emerge victorious in his quest to bring the World Cup to Mexico, De la Torre debases himself and backstabs shamelessly.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026

He gave Bloom a cable from the Exposition Company that empowered De Young to hire someone to select the concessions for the Midway Plaisance and guide their construction and promotion.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson