"D" Word Origins

dietitian

Origin

Irregular spelling of diet + -ician, probably influenced by dietetic.

Dietz

Origin

From the Middle High German and Old High German surname, a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *Þeudōrīks, related to Dietrich.

differ

Latin

From Old French differer, from Latin differo, "to carry apart" — from dis- ("apart") + fero ("carry").

difference

Latin

From Old French difference, from Latin differentia, itself from differens, the present participle of differre, "to differ."

different

Latin

From Old French different, from Latin differens, the present participle of differre, "to differ."

differential

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin differentialis, built from differentia, "a difference."

differentiate

New Latin

From New Latin differentiatus, based on Latin differentia, "difference."

difficult

Latin

A back-formation from difficulty, ultimately from Latin difficilis, "hard to do" — from dis- plus facilis, "easy."

difficulty

Latin

From Old French difficulté, from Latin difficultas, based on difficilis, "hard to do."

diffident

Origin

From Latin diffīdentem, present participle of diffīdere (“to mistrust”). Doublet of defiant.

diffuse

Latin

From Latin diffundere, "to pour out in different directions," from dis- plus fundere, "to pour."

diffusion

Latin

From Latin diffundere 'to pour out, spread', formed from dis- 'apart' and fundere 'to pour'.

dig

Old English

From Middle English diggen, related to Old English dician, "to dig a ditch" — the same root that gave us dyke/dike.

Digby

Old English

From Old English dīc (“dyke”) + Old Norse býr (“settlement”). The town in Nova Scotia is named after admiral Robert Digby (1732 - 1815).

digest

Latin

From Latin digerere, "to carry apart, distribute," from dis- plus gerere, "to carry."

digester

Origin

From digest + -er.

digestible

Origin

From Old French digestible, equivalent to digest + -ible.

digestion

Latin

From Old French digestion, from Latin digestio.

digestive

Late Latin

From Old French digestif, from Late Latin digestivus.

digger

Origin

From dig plus the agent suffix -er. The Australian/New Zealand soldier sense comes from the trench-digging soldiers did in World War I.

diggety

Origin

Fanciful extension of another lexical item, possibly hot dog (interjection) or dig + -ety, an expressive suffix used to extend monosyllabic words. It is unclear whether this word or the whole phrase hot diggety dog came first. Compare African American Vernacular English dig. Attested since the end of the nineteenth century.

Diggin

Origin

From a medieval diminutive of Dick.

diggity

Origin

See diggety, analyzable as dig + -ity, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words.

Diggle

Old English

(surname): From a medieval diminutive of Dick. : (place name): From Old English degle, ("valley").

Diggs

Origin

From Dick + the patronymic suffix -s.

dight

Origin

From Middle English dighten, dihten, (also dyten, from whence dite), from Old English dihtan, dihtian (“to set in order; dispose; arrange; appoint; direct; compose”), from Proto-West Germanic *dihtōn (“to compose; invent”), of disputed origin. Possibly from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *dīkaną (“to arrange; create; perform”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵ-, *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead; shape; mold; build”), influenced by Latin dictāre; or perhaps from Latin dictāre (“to dictate”) itself. See dictate; and also parallel formations in German dichten, Dutch dichten, Swedish dikta.

digit

Latin

From Latin digitus, "finger" or "toe" — the finger sense came first, and the number sense grew from the old habit of counting on fingers.

digital

Latin

From Latin digitalis, "of the finger," from digitus — the modern computing sense comes from digits (0s and 1s) being the basic units of digital data.

digitalin

Origin

From digitalis + -in.

digitalis

Latin

Modern Latin, "of the fingers," from the German folk name Fingerhut ("thimble") for the foxglove flower.

digitalize

Origin

From digital + -ize (“to make”) or digitalis + -ize.

digitate

Origin

The adjective is first attested in 1661, the verb in 1657; the adjective was borrowed from Latin digitātus (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), the verb from digitātus, perfect passive participle of digitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)).

digitigrade

Origin

From French digitigrade, from Latin digitus (“finger, toe, digit”) + -grade (“gait”); compare New Latin digitigradus.

dignification

Origin

From dignify + -ation.

dignify

Late Latin

From Old French dignifier, from Late Latin dignificare, based on dignus, "worthy."

dignitary

French

Borrowed from French dignitaire.

dignity

Latin

From Old French dignité, from Latin dignitas, "worthiness," from dignus, "worthy."

digress

Latin

From Latin digredi, "to step away."

digression

Origin

From Old French digressiun or disgressiun, from Latin dīgressiōnem, from dīgressus + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs), the past passive participle of dīgredior (“to step away, to digress”), from dis- + gradior (“to step, walk, go”).

digs

Origin

A shortened form of diggings.

Dijon

Origin

Named after Dijon, France, where the mustard style originated.

dike

Old Norse

From Northern Middle English dik and dike (“ditch”), from Old Norse díki (“ditch”). Influenced by Middle Dutch dijc (“ditch; dam”) and Middle Low German dīk (“dam”). See also ditch.

diktat

Origin

Borrowed from German Diktat, from Latin dictātum (“that which has been dictated”), from the perfect passive participle of dictō (“dictate”). Doublet of dictate. Originally used with reference to Germany's penalties as dictated by the Treaty of Versailles.

dilapidate

Origin

From Latin dilapidō (“to scatter, consume, throw away”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from dis- (“asunder”) + lapidō (“to stone”), from lapis (“stone”). Compare French dilapider.

dilatation

Origin

From Old French dilatation, from Late Latin dīlātātio, early 15th c.

dilate

Latin

From Latin dilatare, "to spread out," from dis- plus latus, "wide."

dilation

Origin · 1500

From dilate plus the suffix -ion, first used in this form in the late 1500s.

dilatory

Origin

From Middle English dilatorie, from Old French dilatoire, from Latin dīlātōrius (“extending or putting off (time)”), from dīlātor, from differō. Not etymologically related to delay.