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

The study team included experts from the Universidad del Rosario in Colombia, the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra and Universitat de Valencia in Spain, and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

The incident drew significant media attention both in Brazil, where Rio de Janeiro's mayor Eduardo Cavaliere wrote that he intended to ban Roan from performing in his city, and on social media.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

In 2025, their record “Alma de Reyna 30 Aniversario” was nominated in the category for ranchero/mariachi album; previously, in 2009, “Compañeras” was nominated for regional Mexican album.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Churchill and de Gaulle were soldiers who later provided essential wartime leadership.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

We circled around El Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and promptly crossed ourselves at the sight of the old church.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall