"D" Word Origins

develop

Vulgar Latin

From French développer, ultimately from a Vulgar Latin word meaning "to unwrap" — the opposite of "envelop".

developer

Origin

From develop + -er.

development

Old French

From French développement, from Old French desvelopemens ("unrolling"); development + -ment.

developmental

Origin

From development + -al.

Deveraux

Origin

Variant of Devereaux.

Devereaux

Origin

American respelling of Devereux, a surname of Anglo-Norman origin. From d' + Evreux (meaning from Évreux, a city in Normandy).

devi

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit देवी (devī), meaning "goddess" — the feminine form of deva, "god" or "shining one."

deviant

Latin

From Latin dēviāns, "straying" or "turning off the road" — literally de- ("away") + via ("way, road").

deviate

Late Latin

From Late Latin dēviātus, past participle of dēviāre, "to turn out of the way" — from de- ("off") + via ("road").

deviation

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin dēviātiō, from dēviāre, "to turn off the road" — built from de- ("off") + via ("way").

device

Latin

From Old French devis/devise, ultimately from Latin dīvidere, "to divide" — the sense shifted from "a division or plan" to "a designed thing" over centuries.

devil

Latin

From Old English dēofol, borrowed from Latin diabolus, from Greek diábolos, "slanderer" — literally "one who throws something across" (in someone's path).

devil's advocate

Latin

A translation of Latin advocatus diaboli, the informal name for the official appointed in Roman Catholic canonisation proceedings to argue against a candidate's sainthood.

devilfish

Origin

Compound of devil + fish.

devilish

Middle English

From Middle English develissh, formed from devil plus the adjective-forming suffix -ish.

Deville

French

From French Deville.

devilment

Origin

From devil + -ment (suffix forming nouns indicating the actions or results of what is denoted by the words it is attached to).

devilry

Origin

From Middle English develrye; equivalent to devil + -ry.

Devin

Origin

* As an Irish, English, and French surname, spelling variant of Devine. Also see Devon. * Also as a French surname, from devin (“fortuneteller”). * As a Russian surname, from дева (deva, “maiden”).

Devine

Origin

Reduced Anglicized form of either of two Irish surnames, Ó Duibhín (“descendant of Duibhín”), a byname from a hypocoristic form of dubh (“black”), or Ó Daimhín (“descendant of Daimhín”), a byname from a hypocoristic form of damh (“stag”).

devious

Latin · 1600

From Latin dēvius, "out of the way, off the main road," from de via, "off the road." The figurative sense of "deceitful" only developed in English in the 1600s.

devise

Latin

From Old French deviser, ultimately from Latin dīvidere, "to divide" — the sense narrowed from "to arrange, plan" toward "to invent" and, separately, its legal meaning of bequeathing property.

Devlin

Irish

From Irish Ó Duibhlin. Doublet of Dolan.

devo

Origin

A clipped, informal form: "devo" from devastated, and separately from devotion/devotional.

devoid

Old French

From obsolete Middle English devoiden, "to empty out," from Old French desvuidier, "to empty."

devoir

Origin

From Middle English devoir, borrowed from Middle French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”).

devolution

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French dévolution, from Medieval Latin devolutio, devolutionis, from Latin devolvo.

Devon

Origin

Named after Devon, the English county, where the cattle breed originated; the processed meat sense followed the same place-name pattern much later.

Devonshire

Old English

From Old English Defenasċīr, equivalent to Devon + -shire.

devote

Latin

From Latin dēvōtus, past participle of dēvovēre, "to vow, dedicate solemnly, or sacrifice."

devoted

Origin

From devote plus the adjective suffix -ed.

devotee

Origin

From devote plus the suffix -ee, following the pattern of words like "employee."

devotion

Latin

From Old French devocion, from Latin dēvōtiō, from dēvovēre, "to vow or dedicate."

devotional

Origin

From devotion plus the adjective suffix -al.

devour

Latin

From Old French devorer, from Latin dēvorāre, built from de- (intensifying) and vorāre, "to swallow."

devout

Latin

From Old French devot, from Latin dēvōtus, "vowed, dedicated" — a doublet of devote.

devoutful

Origin

From devout (adjective) + -ful.

dew

Old English

From Old English dēaw, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "moisture" or "haze," related to German Tau and Dutch dauw.

Dewar

Origin

Named after the Scottish scientist James Dewar, who is credited with inventing the vacuum flask.

Dewey

French

Possibly from the French place name Douai, or from Welsh Dewi (a form of David).

Dewitt

Dutch · 1672

From the Dutch surname de Witt. The verb sense recalls the 1672 lynching of Dutch statesmen Johan and Cornelis de Witt.

dewy

Old English

From Old English deawig, built from dew plus the adjective ending -y — the same pattern as sunny from sun or rainy from rain.

dex

Origin

A clipped form — the games sense shortens "dexterity," while the drug senses shorten "dextroamphetamine" or "dextromethorphan."

dexter

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin dexter, "right, right-handed."

dexterity

Latin

From Latin dexteritas, related to dexter, "on the right side" — reflecting the old assumption that right-handedness meant greater skill.

dextrose

Origin

From dextro- + -ose (“right-handed sugar”).

dey

Old English

The dairymaid sense traces back to Old English daege ("bread-maker" or "dairymaid"), the same root that gave us "dairy" and "lady." The Algerian ruler's title is an unrelated borrowing via Ottoman Turkish.

Dhanraj

Origin

From a Hindi personal name composed of the elements धन (dhan, “wealth, riches”) and राज (rāj, “kingdom, rule, royalty”).