"D" Word Origins

decouple

Origin

From Middle French découpler. By surface analysis, de- + couple.

decoy

Dutch

From Dutch de kooi, literally "the cage," possibly linked to the word "coy."

decrease

Latin

From Middle English decresen, via Old French descreistre, ultimately from Latin decrescere.

decree

Latin

From Old French decré (French décret), from Latin dēcrētum.

decrepit

Latin

From Middle French décrépit, from Latin dēcrepitus ("very old"), related to crepāre ("to creak").

decrepitude

Origin

From Middle French décrépitude, from Old French, from Latin dēcrepitūdō (“decrepitude”).

decrescendo

Origin

Borrowed from Italian decrescendo.

decretory

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin dēcrētōrius (“decisive”), from Latin dēcernō (“decide, determine”).

decriminalize

Origin

Back-formation from decriminalization, equivalent to de- + criminalize.

decry

Origin

C. 1600, from Middle French decrier (“to denigrate; depreciate”), from Old French descrier (“to shout”) (modern décrier). Doublet of descry. The pejorative meaning had not been present in the Middle English loan, but it was present in the French word from at least the 13th century, with a meaning of "to denigrate; depreciate; to announce the depreciation or suppression of a currency", presumably from the interpretation of de- as meaning "down, inferior".

decrypt

Ancient Greek

From de- + -crypt, ultimately from Ancient Greek kryptós, meaning "hidden."

decryption

Ancient Greek

A verbal noun built from decrypt, ultimately from Ancient Greek kryptós ("hidden").

decuple

Origin

From Middle English decuple, from Middle French décuple, from Late Latin decuplus (“tenfold”), from Latin decem (“ten”), and plicō (“fold”).

decuplet

Origin

From decuple (“multiply by ten”) + -et (“forming diminutives”).

dedicate

Latin

From Middle English dedicaten, from Latin dēdicātus, the past participle of dēdicāre ("to proclaim, dedicate").

dedication

Latin

From Old French dedicacion, from Latin dēdicātiō, built on dēdicātus.

deduce

Latin

From Latin dēdūcere ("to lead away, derive"), from dē- ("from, away") + dūcere ("to lead").

deduct

Latin

Borrowed from Latin dēductus, the past participle of dēdūcere ("to lead away, subtract").

deductible

Origin

Built from deduct + -ible.

deduction

Latin

From Middle French déduction, from Latin deductio, matching either deduct + -ion or deduce + -tion.

deductive

Origin

Formed from deduct + -ive.

deductivism

Origin

From deductive + -ism.

deduplicate

Origin

From de- + duplicate.

deduster

Origin

From dedust + -er.

Dee

Origin

As a letter name, simply the name of "D"; the river name has separate Celtic origins; the nickname use is a short form of D-names.

deed

Old English

From Old English dǣd ("deed, act"), from Proto-Germanic dēdiz, related to the verb "do."

Deegan

Irish

An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Duibhginn, from a byname meaning roughly "black-headed".

deejay

Origin

A spelled-out pronunciation of the abbreviation "DJ."

deem

Old English

From Old English dēman ("to judge, decide"), related to the word "doom."

deemed

Old English

From the verb "deem", ultimately from Old English dēman, "to judge".

deen

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic dīn ("religion").

deep

Old English

From Old English dēop ("deep, profound"), from Proto-Germanic deupaz, from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "deep."

Deepa

Sanskrit

From Hindi दीपा (dīpā), ultimately from Sanskrit दीपा (dīpā), related to "lamp" or "light."

Deepak

Hindi

From Hindi दीपक (dīpak), literally "little lamp" — someone who brings light or hope to others.

deepen

Origin

From deep + the verb-forming suffix -en, the same pattern seen in "widen" and "harden."

deeply

Old English

From Old English dēoplīċe, formed from dēop ("deep") plus the adverb-forming suffix -līċe, ancestor of modern -ly.

deepness

Origin

From Middle English depnesse, from Old English dēopnes (“deepness; depth; an abyss”), from Proto-West Germanic *deupnassī, equivalent to deep + -ness. Cognate with German Low German Deepnis (“deepness, depth”).

deer

Old English

From Old English dēor ("animal, beast"), which originally meant any wild animal, not just the antlered kind — the narrower modern sense developed later in English. The word is cognate with German Tier ("animal").

deerfield

Origin

From deer + field.

deerflesh

Origin

From deer + flesh.

Deering

Origin

A patronymic form of the surname Dear, meaning roughly "son of Dear."

deets

Origin

A casual clipping of "details," respelled to show the long "e" sound.

def

Origin · 1980

A 1980s hip-hop slang clipping, most likely from "definitive" or "definitely."

deface

Origin

From Middle English defacen, from Old French defacier, desfacier (“to mutilate, destroy, disfigure”), from des- (“away from”) (see dis-) + Late Latin facia.

defalcate

Origin

First attested in the 1530s, in the sense “to lop off”; borrowed from Medieval Latin dēfalcātus, perfect passive participle of dēfalcō (“to cut or lop off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

defalcation

Origin

Late 15th century, from Medieval Latin dēfalcātiōnem, accusative singular of dēfalcātiō (literally “cutting off, lopping off with a sickle”), nominalization of dēfalcō, from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”), from which also English falcate (“sickle-shaped”). By surface analysis, defalcate + -ion (“the act of”).

defalcator

Origin

From defalcate + -or.

defamation

Latin

From Old French diffamacion, from Latin diffāmātiō, built on the same root as "defame."