"D" Word Origins

derived

Origin

From derive + -ed.

dermarolling

Origin

From derma- + rolling.

dermatitis

Greek

From Greek derma, meaning skin, plus -itis, the medical suffix denoting inflammation.

dermatologist

Greek

From dermatology (Greek derma, "skin," + -logy, "study of") + -ist.

Dermot

Irish

From Irish Diarmaid. Doublet of Jeremy.

dern

Origin

From Middle English dern, derne, from Old English dyrne, dierne (“secret”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnī (“hidden, secret”).

dero

Origin

From derelict.

derogate

Origin

Inherited from Late Middle English derogaten, from derogat(e) (“annulled, abrogated”, used participially and later as the past participle of derogaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix) borrowed from Latin dērogātus, perfect passive participle of dērogō (“to annul, repeal part of a law, take away, detract from”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from dē- (“from”) + rogō (“to ask, enquire; to propose a law”). Sporadic participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

derogatory

Late Latin

From Late Latin derogatorius, related to derogare, "to lessen or detract from" — the source of derogate.

derp

Origin

Probably from dur, a British informal exclamation for “stupid” or from duh, an exclamation indicating faltering speech and assumed stupidity, glottalized for emphasis. Popularized by BASEketball (1998) and "Succubus", a 1999 episode of South Park. See also twerp possibly related to Welsh twp meaning fool. Derp was used in the movie College Rhythm (1934) to refer to a nerdy or awkward type of person.

derpy

Origin

From derp + -y.

derrick

Origin · 1600

Named after Thomas Derrick, a 17th-century English executioner whose hanging apparatus gave its name to the lifting frame.

Derry

Irish

From Irish Doire, from doire (“oak grove”), from Old Irish daire (“oak forest”), from Proto-Celtic *daru.

derv

Origin

Initialism of diesel engine road vehicle.

Dervish

Persian

From Turkish dervis, from Persian darvish, "poor, mendicant."

desai

Origin

From Marathi/Gujarati desai, meaning "leader of a village or district."

descant

Origin

From Anglo-Norman descaunt, from Medieval Latin discantus. Doublet of discant.

Descartes

French

Unadapted borrowing from French Descartes.

descend

Latin

From Old French descendre, from Latin descendere, "to climb down," from de- + scandere, "to climb."

descendant

Middle French

From Middle French descendant, present participle of descendre, "to descend."

descending

Origin

From descend + -ing.

descension

Origin

From Middle English descencioun, from Old French descension, from Latin dēscēnsiō, dēscēnsiōnem.

descent

Old French

From Old French descente, tied to descendre, "to descend" — built from the same root as "ascent" and "ascend", just heading the other direction.

descrambler

Origin

From descramble + -er.

describe

Latin

From Latin describere, "to copy down or sketch out" — from de- ("down, off") + scribere ("to write"), the same root that gives us "scribe."

described

Latin

From Latin describere 'to write down, copy off', from de- 'down' plus scribere 'to write'.

description

Latin

From Latin descriptio, "a copying down, a sketch," from describere (see "describe").

descriptive

Latin

From Latin descriptivus, "giving a full account," from describere (see "describe").

descriptivism

Origin

From descriptive + -ism. * Audio (Southern England): (file)

descriptor

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēscrīptōris. Compare describe.

descry

Origin

From Middle English descrien, descriven in the 14th century already had the dual sense of "to proclaim, announce, make known" and "to see, discern, discover". On the one hand, the Middle English word is a loan Old French descrier (“to proclaim, announce, cry”), from des- + crier (“shout, cry”); in this case, the word is a doublet of decry, which was loaned from the same French source in the 17th century. Alternatively, as suggested by the spelling descriven, the Middle English word may be a contraction of Old French descrire, descrivre (“to describe”), from Latin describere, and thus a doublet of describe (so Palmer 1890, attributing the view to Walter William Skeat), but modern dictionaries more often seem to prefer the view that there was a secondary, folk-etymological influence on descrien by descriven within Middle English (so The Century Dictionary 1911). The semantic shift from "announce" to "discern, detect" is via "to cry out on discovering something that has been looked for". Palmer (1890) compares the etymology of Latin explorare "to search a wood &c. with cries".

Desdemona

Origin

Coined based on Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-) + δαίμων (daímōn), hence "ill-fated, unfortunate".

desecrate

Origin

Built from de- (reversing or undoing) plus the stem of "consecrate" (to make sacred) — literally "to un-sanctify."

desert

Latin

From Old French desert, from Latin desertum, "an abandoned place," from deserere, "to abandon." Not related to "dessert" (the sweet course), despite the shared spelling root.

deserter

Latin

From Latin desertor, "one who abandons," from deserere (see "desert").

desertion

Middle French

Borrowed from Middle French désertion.

deserve

Latin

From Old French deservir, from Latin deservire, "to serve zealously" — from de- + servire ("to serve").

Desi

Hindi

From Hindi-Urdu desi, meaning "of the country" or "native," from desh ("country, homeland").

desiccation

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French dessiccation, from Late Latin desiccatio, desiccationem, from Latin desicco.

design

Latin

From Latin designare, "to mark out, point out," from de- + signare ("to mark"), from signum ("a mark, sign").

designate

Latin

From Latin designatus, past participle of designare, "to mark out" — the same root as "design."

designation

Middle English

From Middle English designacioun, from Latin dēsignātiō, and partly (especially in sense 5) from design + -ation. By surface analysis, designate + -ion.

designee

Origin

From designate + -ee.

desirability

Origin

Morphologically desirable + -ity and desire + -ability.

desirable

Old French

From Old French desirable, built from "desire" plus the suffix -able ("capable of being").

desire

Latin

From Old French desirer, from Latin desiderare, "to long for, to feel the want of" — possibly tied to sidus ("star"), as in longing for something once seen in the stars.

desirous

Origin

From Middle English, from Old French desirrous, from desirrer + -ous.

desist

Latin

From Latin desistere, "to stand off, leave off" — from de- + sistere ("to stand, stop").