"D" Word Origins

Dylan

Welsh

From Welsh mythology, possibly meaning "son of the sea" or "born from the ocean".

Dyle

French

Borrowed from French Dyle.

dynamic

Ancient Greek

From French dynamique, itself from Ancient Greek dunamikós ("powerful"), rooted in dúnamis ("power, ability").

dynamism

Origin

From English dynam(ic) (or directly from Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis, “power”)) + ism.

dynamite

Ancient Greek · 1867

Coined in 1867 by Alfred Nobel, built from Ancient Greek dúnamis ("power") plus the suffix "-ite".

dynamo

Greek

A shortening of "dynamo-electric machine", built from the Greek root dúnamis, meaning power.

dynasty

Ancient Greek

From Middle French dynastie, ultimately from Ancient Greek dunasteía, meaning power or dominion.

dysentery

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek dusentería, combining dus- ("bad") and éntera ("bowels").

dysfunction

Origin

Built from the prefix "dys-" (bad, abnormal) attached to "function".

dysfunctional

Origin

From "dysfunction" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-al".

dysgerminoma

Origin

From dys- + germ + carcinoma.

dyshygienic

Origin

From dys- + hygienic.

dysjunction

Origin

From dys- + junction.

dyslexia

German · 1887

Coined in 1887 by German ophthalmologist Rudolf Berlin, from Greek dys- ("bad, difficult") and léxis ("word, diction").

dyslexic

Origin

By surface analysis, dyslexia + -ic. Piecewise doublet of dyslectic.

dyslogy

Origin

Formed from eulogy by replacing eu- with dys-.

Dyson

Origin

A patronymic English surname, from Dennis + -son, compare Tyson, Tennyson.

dyspepsia

Origin

From dys- + Ancient Greek πέψις (pépsis, “digestion”) + -ia.

dyspeptic

Origin

First attested in 1694. From Ancient Greek δύσπεπτος (dúspeptos, “difficult to digest”), from δυσ- (dus-, “bad”) + πέπτω (péptō, “to digest”).

dysphemism

Origin

Borrowed from French dysphémisme, modelled after euphémisme, with the prefix dys-.

dysphoria

Greek

From Greek dysphoria, discomfort or distress, from dys-, bad or difficult, and pherein, to bear.

dyspnea

Greek

From Greek dyspnoia, difficulty of breathing, from dys-, bad or difficult, and pnoe, breathing.

dyspneal

Origin

From dyspnea + -al.

dyspneic

Origin

From dyspnea + -ic.

dystopia

Greek

From Greek "dys-" (bad, difficult) plus "topos" (place), formed as the direct opposite of utopia.

dystopian

Greek

The adjective of dystopia, from Greek "dys-" (bad) plus "topos" (place).