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

"At the moment the Strait of Hormuz is under the de facto rule of the Iranian military," Belcher said.

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

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

While Picasso was on his way downtown, Apollinaire sat in a small holding cell at the Palais de Justice.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day