"D" Word Origins

dharma

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit dharma, "that which upholds or supports," related to the Pali word dhamma.

dhoni

Origin

Borrowed from Dhivehi, the language of the Maldives, where dōni refers to this style of boat.

dhoti

Hindi

From Hindi dhotī.

di

Chinese

Borrowed from Chinese 狄 (Dí).

diabetes

Latin

From Latin diabetes ("siphon"), from Greek diabetes, from diabainein ("to pass through") — a reference to the excessive urination the disease causes.

diabetic

Origin

From diabetes + the adjective suffix -ic.

diablo

Latin

Borrowed directly from Spanish diablo, "devil," which itself descends from Latin diabolus.

diabolic

Origin

From Middle English diabolik, from Middle French diabolique, from Late Latin diabolicus, from Ancient Greek διαβολικός (diabolikós, “devilish”), from διάβολος (diábolos, “devil”). First attested in 1350–1400.

diabolical

Greek

From diabolic + -al, ultimately from Greek diabolos ("slanderer, devil").

diaconal

Origin

From Middle French diaconal, from Latin diaconus (“deacon”).

diagnose

Greek

A back-formation from diagnosis, ultimately from Greek diagignoskein ("to distinguish, discern").

diagnoser

Origin

From diagnose + -er.

diagnosis

Greek

From Greek diagnosis, from diagignoskein ("to discern"), from dia- ("through") + gignoskein ("to know").

diagnostic

Greek

From Greek diagnostikos, related to diagignoskein ("to distinguish, diagnose").

diagonal

Latin

From Latin diagonalis, from Greek diagonios ("from angle to angle"), from dia- ("across") + gonia ("angle").

diagonally

Origin

From diagonal + -ly.

diagram

French

From French diagramme, from Greek diagramma, from dia- ("across") + graphein ("to write, draw").

dial

Latin

From Middle English diall, from Latin dialis ("daily"), from dies ("day") — originally referring to a sundial.

dialect

French

From French dialecte, from Greek dialektos ("conversation, local speech"), from dialegesthai ("to converse").

dialog

Origin

Variant of dialogue. Equivalent to dia- + -log or di- + -alog.

dialogue

Old French

From Old French dialoge, from Greek dialogos ("conversation"), from dia- ("through, between") + legein ("to speak").

dialysis

Greek

From Greek dialysis ("a separating"), from dia- ("through") + lysis ("loosening").

diamante

Origin

Borrowed from French diamanté (“adorned with diamonds”). From past participle of diamanter (“adorn with diamonds”), from diamant (“diamond”), from oblique stem of Ancient Greek ἀδάμᾱς (adámās, “hard metal, diamond”).

diamantine

Origin

From Middle French diamantin, from diamant (“diamond”) + -in (“-ine”).

diameter

Greek

From Greek diametros ("line measuring across"), from dia- ("across") + metron ("measure").

diamond

Latin

From Old French diamant, from Latin adamas ("hardest metal"), from Greek adamas — the same root as "adamant." Diamond and adamant are doublets.

Diana

Latin

From Latin Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and moon, ultimately from an Old Italic root related to "divine" and "light."

Diane

French

An anglicization of French Diane, from Latin Diāna. Doublet of Diana

diaper

Old French

From Old French diaspre ("richly patterned silk cloth"), from Byzantine Greek diaspros ("pure white").

diaphanous

Origin

From Medieval Latin diaphanus, from Ancient Greek διαφανής (diaphanḗs), from δια- (dia-, “through”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine, appear”).

diaphoresis

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin diaphorēsis, from Ancient Greek δῐᾰφόρησῐς (dĭăphórēsĭs, “evaporation, dissipation, perspiration”); by surface analysis, dia- (“through, across”) + -phoresis (“transmission”); also synchronically held to end in the suffix -esis.

diaphragm

Greek

From Greek diaphragma ("partition"), from dia- ("across") + phragma ("barrier, fence").

diarrhea

Greek

From Greek diarrhoia ("through-flowing"), from dia- ("through") + rhein ("to flow").

diary

Latin

From Latin diarium ("daily allowance," later "diary"), from dies ("day").

diaspora

Greek

From Greek "diaspora," a scattering or dispersion, from "speirein" (to sow). It was first used of the dispersal of the Jewish people and later broadened to any community living away from its ancestral home.

diatonic

Origin

From French diatonique or Late Latin diatonicus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διατονικός (diatonikós), in the phrase [γένος (génos, “type, genus”)] διατονικός (diatonikós) (in reference to the diatonic tetrachord, and in contrast to the chromatic and enharmonic tetrachords), from διάτονος (diátonos) (διά (diá) + τόνος (tónos)), of disputed etymology, as both components are ambiguous. Most plausibly, διάτονος (diátonos) refers to “stretched intervals”, as the intervals of the diatonic tetrachord are the most evenly distributed or “stretched out”, compared to the chromatic and enharmonic tetrads, which use smaller, more crowded together intervals. Compare pyknon, from πυκνός (puknós, “dense, compressed”), referring to the lower part of the non-diatonic tetrachords: the diatonic tetrachord has widely spaced notes (“stretched out”), while the other tetrachords have a closely spaced notes (“compressed”).

Diaz

Spanish

From Spanish Díaz.

diazepam

Origin

A chemical name built from "diazepine" (part of its molecular structure) + "amide."

dib

Origin

Likely a variant of "dip" or "dab."

dibber

Origin

From dib + -er.

dibble

Origin

Possibly from dib ("to dab lightly") plus the frequentative suffix -le, though dibble is actually recorded earlier than dib.

dibs

Origin

Origin disputed; commonly traced to "dibstones," counters used in a children's game.

DiCaprio

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Di Caprio.

dice

Middle English

From Middle English dys, plural of "die"; the spelling later shifted to reflect its pronunciation as a single collective word.

dicey

Origin

From dice + -y — something as unpredictable as a roll of the dice.

dichotomy

Greek

From Greek "dikhotomia," a cutting in two, from "dikha" (in two) plus "temnein" (to cut).

dick

Origin

Originally a pet form of the name Richard; the insulting and anatomical senses developed later as the name came to stand for "any man" or "everyman."

dickason

Origin

From a diminutive of Dick + -son.