De Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

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.

DE 2 American

abbreviation

1. Delaware (approved especially for use with zip code).

2. destroyer escort.

de' 3 American [duh, de] / də, dɛ /

preposition

1. dei (used in Italian names as an elided form ofdei ).

   de' Medici.

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 ).

D.E. 5 American

abbreviation

1. Doctor of Engineering.

2. driver education.

de- 1 British

prefix

1. removal of or from something specified

   deforest

   dethrone

2. reversal of something

   decode

   decompose

   desegregate

3. departure from

   decamp

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 DE 2 British

abbreviation

1. (formerly in Britain) Department of Employment

2. Delaware

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 de 4 British

abbreviation

1. Germany

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Despite the impressive array of talent she looks after, which also includes Manchester United duo Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, she is not prepared to rest on her laurels.

From BBC

Team GB chef de mission Eve Muirhead added: "What a great opportunity we have, but we've also got to take into account the high risk of winter sport - and that's why everyone loves it."

From BBC

The 19-year-old had a tough time on Friday against Mike de Decker before defeating the Belgian 3-2.

From BBC

He's the only artist with album of the year nominations for five consecutive releases, and GNX is a snappy, crowd-pleasing tour de force.

From BBC

"We got three more points and we're still growing as a team, which is very important because we still have not reached our top level I think," Barca midfielder Frenkie de Jong told Movistar.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.