"D" Word Origins

depopulate

Origin

First attested in 1531; borrowed from Latin dēpopulātus, perfect active participle of dēpopulor (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)). Compare depeople, French dépeupler, Italian spopolare, Spanish despoblar, Portuguese despovoar and Romanian despopora; by surface analysis, de- + populate. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

deport

Latin

From French déporter, from Latin deportare ("to carry away"), from de- ("away") and portare ("to carry").

deportation

Middle French

From Middle French déportation, formed from "deport" plus "-ation."

deportment

Origin

From Late Middle French deportement (French déportement). By surface analysis, deport + -ment.

depose

Old French

From Old French deposer, from de- ("down") and poser ("to put, place") — historically confused with the related but separate word "deposit."

deposit

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin depositus, the past participle of deponere ("to put down") — making it a doublet of "depot."

depositary

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin dēpositārius.

deposition

Latin

From Old French deposicion, from Latin depositio, related to "deposit" and "depose" (whose meanings became historically intertwined).

depository

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin depositorium, built on Latin depositum, "something set down" — the same root as deposit.

depot

Latin

From French depot, "a place where things are set down," ultimately from the same Latin root as deposit.

depravation

Origin

From Middle French dépravation, from Latin dēprāvātiō (“perversion, distortion, corruption, depravity”).

deprave

Origin

From Middle English depraven, from Old French depraver, from Latin dēprāvāre (“pervert, distort, corrupt”), from de- + pravus (“crooked, distorted, perverse, wicked”).

depraved

Latin

From Latin depravare, "to distort or corrupt," from de- + pravus, "crooked, bad."

depravity

Latin

From depraved, ultimately from Latin pravus, "crooked, bad."

deprecate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin dēprecātus, perfect active participle of dēprecor (“to pray against (a present or impending evil) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), pray for, intercede for (that which is in danger), rarely imprecate”), from dē- (“off”) + precor (“to pray”).

depreciate

Origin

Inherited from Middle English depreciaten, borrowed from Late Latin dēpretiātus / dēpreciātus, perfect passive participle of dēpretiō / dēpreciō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- + pretium (“price”) + -ō.

depreciation

Latin

From Late Latin depretiare 'to lower the price of', from de- 'down' and pretium 'price'.

depredation

Origin

From Middle French déprédation, from Latin depraedatio.

depress

Latin

From Old French depresser, from Latin deprimere, "to press down," from de- + premere, "to press."

depressed

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

depression

Latin

From Old French depression, from Latin depressio, built on deprimere, "to press down."

depressive

Medieval Latin

From French depressif or Medieval Latin depressivus, built on depress + -ive.

deprivation

Latin

From deprive, ultimately from Latin de- + privare, "to deprive."

deprive

Medieval Latin

From Old French depriver, from Medieval Latin deprivare, from Latin de- + privare, "to take away as one's own."

depth

Old English

From Old English deopnes-related forms, built on "deep" plus the abstract suffix "-th" — the same pattern as "width" from "wide".

depthen

Origin

From depth + -en.

deputation

Origin

From Middle French députation, from Late Latin deputatio.

deputy

Late Latin

From French depute, from Late Latin deputatus, "appointed."

der

Origin

An imitative sound, mimicking a slow or dim-witted response; related in spirit to "duh" and "dur."

deracinate

Origin

PIE word *wréh₂ds First attested in 1609; calque of French déraciner on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from racine (“root”), from Latin rādīx, rādīcis (“a root”).

derail

French

From French derailler, "to go off the rails," from de- + rail.

deranged

French

From French derange, past participle of deranger, "to disturb the order of."

derangement

Origin

Borrowed from French dérangement, equivalent to derange + -ment.

derby

Origin

Named after the Epsom Derby horse race, itself named for Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby.

Derbyshire

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English Derbyschire, from late Old English Dēorbȳsċīr; equivalent to Derby + -shire.

dere

Old English

From Old English dæru ("injury, harm, loss"), tracing back to a very old Germanic root meaning damage — a distant relative of similar words in Old High German and Sanskrit.

deregister

Origin

From de- + register.

Derek

Origin

Borrowed in the Middle Ages from a Middle Low German variant of Theodoric, and revived in the 19th century.

derelict

Latin

From Latin derelictus, "completely abandoned," the past participle of derelinquere, "to abandon utterly."

dereliction

Latin

From Latin derelictio, "abandonment," from derelinquere, "to abandon."

deride

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin dērīdēre, the present active infinitive of dērīdeō (“to laugh at, make fun of, mock, deride”), from dē- (prefix denoting putting down or subjecting to indignity) + rīdeō (“to laugh; to laugh at, mock, ridicule”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate; to turn”) (referring to turning the mouth to smile) or *wreyd- (“to carve; to scratch”)). cognates * Old French dérider (rare), derire

derision

Origin

From Old French derision, from Latin dērīsiōnem, accusative of dērīsiō, from dērīdēre ("to mock, to laugh at, to deride").

derisive

Origin

From the participle stem of Latin dērīdeō (“to deride”) + -ive.

derisively

Origin

From derisive + -ly.

derivate

Origin

From a substantivation of the above adjective. Equivalent to derive + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

derivation

Origin

From Middle English derivacioun, borrowed from Middle French dérivation, from Latin dērīvātiō, dērīvātiōnem. Morphologically derive + -ation.

derivative

Latin

From Latin derivatus, past participle of derivare, "to derive"; related to derive.

derive

Latin

From Old French deriver, from Latin derivare, "to draw off (water) from a stream," from de- + rivus, "stream" — the same root as "river" and "rival".