Etymology 1
From Etruscan. Etruscan names of stops were the stop followed by /eː/.[1]
Noun
dē f (indeclinable)
- The name of the letter D.
Coordinate terms
- (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta
Etymology 2
From Proto-Italic *dē, from an instrumental singular form of Proto-Indo-European *de. Also in suffixes -dam, -dum, -de, -dō (e.g. quondam, inde, unde, quandō), dōnec, Ancient Greek δέ (dé), δή (dḗ), English to.
Preposition
dē (+ ablative)
- of, concerning, about
- actum est de aliquo ― It is over for someone, someone's fate is sealed
- de rebus mathematicis ― concerning mathematical things
c. 1772, Finnur Jónsson, Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ, page 1:De introductione religionis Christianæ in Islandiam.- Of the introduction of Christianity to Iceland.
- from, away from, down from, out of; in general to indicate the person or place from which any thing is taken, etc., with verbs of taking away, depriving, demanding, requesting, inquiring, buying; as capere, sumere, emere, quaerere, discere, trahere, etc., and their compounds.
- emere de aliquo ― to buy from someone
- aliquid mercari de aliquo ― to buy something from someone
- Saepe hoc audivi de patre. ― I have often heard this from Father.
- De mausoleo exaudita vox est. ― A voice was heard from the mausoleum.
- Ut sibi liceret discere id de me... ― Just as he himself permitted for me to learn...
- Hamum de cubiculo ut e navicula jacere. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- Brassica de capite et de oculis omnia (mala) deducet. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- De digito anulum detraho. ― From the finger I pull the ring.
- de matris complexu aliquem avellere atque abstrahere ― to rip someone away from the embrace of their mother and drag them away
- Nomen suum de tabula sustulit. ― He removed his name from the tablet.
- Ferrum de manibus extorsimus. ― We tore the sword from their hands.
- Juris utilitas vel a peritis vel de libris depromi potest. ― The utility of a law is able to be produced either from an expert or from books.
- de caelo aliquid demittere ― to bring down something from the sky
- with petere, of a place
- De vicino terra petita solo. ― Earth brought from the nearby soil
- (Late Latin) of persons
- Peto de te. ― I beg of thee.
- from, away from, to indicate the place from which someone or something departs or withdraws.
- Animam de corpore mitto. ― I release the spirit from the body.
- Aliquo quom jam sucus de corpore cessit. ― Somehow the spirit has already passed somewhere from the body.
- Civitati persuasit, ut de finibus suis cum omnibus copiis exirent. ― He persuaded the people to go forth from their territories with all their possessions.
- decedere de provincia ― to retire from office
- de vita decedere ― to withdraw from life
- exire de vita ― to exit out of life (compare excedere e vita)
- de triclinio, de cubiculo exire ― to go out from the triclinium, from the cubiculum
- de castris procedere ― to proceed out of the military camps
- Decido de lecto praeceps. ― I fall down from the bed headlong.
- de muro se deicere ― to throw oneself down from the wall
- de sella exsilire ― to jump from the stool
- nec ex equo vel de muro etc., hostem destinare ― to aim at the enemy from neither the horse nor the wall
- De altera parte tertia Sequanos decedere juberet. ― He ordered the Sequani to withdraw from another third part.
- (particularly coins) over, in reference to the people subjugated when celebrating a Roman victory
- de Germanis ― over the Germans
- de Britannis ― over the Britons
Usage notes
- Dē denotes the going out, departure, removal, or separating of an object from any fixed point (it occupies a middle place between ab (“away from”) which denotes a mere external departure, and ex (“out of”) which signifies from the interior of a thing). Hence verbs compounded with dē are constructed not only with dē, but quite as frequently with ab and ex; and, on the other hand, those compounded with ab and ex often have the terminus a quo indicated by dē.
Descendants
Descendants
- Aragonese: de
- Asturian: de
- Aromanian: di
- Old Catalan: de
- Corsican: di
- Dalmatian: de
- → Esperanto: de
- Franco-Provençal: de
- Old French: de
- Friulian: di
- Old Galician-Portuguese: de
- Galician: de
- Portuguese: de
- → Ido: de
- → Interlingua: de
- Italian: di, de
- Ladin: de
- Ladino: de
- Old Lombard: de
- Lombard: de
- Gallo-Italic of Sicily: d', d′, di
- Mozarabic: ד (d)
- Neapolitan: 'e
- Old Occitan: de
- Romanian: de
- Romansch: da
- Sicilian: di
- Old Spanish: de
References
- de in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- de in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- de in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- de in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Extended content
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- the vegetable kingdom: arbores stirpesque, herbae stirpesque (De Fin. 5. 11. 33)
- to take root: radices agere (De Off. 2. 12. 73)
- to be struck by lightning: de caelo tangi, percuti
- to turn aside from the right way; to deviate: de via declinare, deflectere (also metaphorically)
- make way for any one: (de via) decedere alicui
- weary with travelling; way-worn: fessus de via
- to leave a place: discedere a, de, ex loco aliquo
- to quit a place for ever: decedere loco, de, ex loco
- to throw oneself from the ramparts: se deicere de muro
- to throw some one down the Tarpeian rock: deicere aliquem de saxo Tarpeio
- while it is still night, day: de nocte, de die
- late at night: multa de nocte
- a fine, practised ear: aures elegantes, teretes, tritae (De Or. 9. 27)
- to pass a thing from hand to hand: de manu in manus or per manus tradere aliquid
- to wrest from a person's hand: ex or de manibus alicui or alicuius extorquere aliquid
- to slip, escape from the hands: e (de) manibus effugere, elābi
- the world of sense, the visible world: res sensibus or oculis subiectae (De Fin. 5. 12. 36)
- to free one's mind from the influences of the senses: sevocare mentem a sensibus (De Nat. D. 3. 8. 21)
- from one's entry into civil life: ab ineunte (prima) aetate (De Or. 1. 21. 97)
- to dream of a person: somniare de aliquo
- to depart this life: (de) vita decedere or merely decedere
- to depart this life: de vita exire, de (ex) vita migrare
- to remove a person: e or de medio tollere
- I'm undone! it's all up with me: perii! actum est de me! (Ter. Ad. 3. 2. 26)
- for valid reasons: iustis de causis
- to comfort a man in a matter; to condole with him: consolari aliquem de aliqua re
- to deserve well at some one's hands; to do a service to..: bene, praeclare (melius, optime) mereri de aliquo
- to deserve ill of a person; to treat badly: male mereri de aliquo
- to expostulate with a person about a thing: conqueri, expostulare cum aliquo de aliqua re
- to inform a person: certiorem facere aliquem (alicuius rei or de aliqua re)
- to mention a thing: mentionem facere alicuius rei or de aliqua re
- to mention a thing incidentally, casually: mentionem inicere de aliqua re or Acc. c. Inf.
- to detract from a person's reputation, wilfully underestimate a person: de gloria, fama alicuius detrahere
- to have a good or bad reputation, be spoken well, ill of: bona, mala existimatio est de aliquo
- to do work (especially agricultural): opus facere (De Senect. 7. 24)
- to exert oneself very considerably in a matter: desudare et elaborare in aliqua re (De Senect. 11. 38)
- to study the commonplace: cogitationes in res humiles abicere (De Amic. 9. 32) (Opp. alte spectare, ad altiora tendere, altum, magnificum, divinum suspicere)
- vague, undeveloped ideas: intellegentiae adumbratae or incohatae (De Leg. 1. 22. 59)
- to give up one's opinion: de sententia sua decedere
- to give up one's opinion: (de) sententia desistere
- to be forced to change one's mind: de sententia deici, depelli, deterreri
- to make a man change his opinion: de sententia aliquem deducere, movere
- to judge others by oneself: de se (ex se de aliis) coniecturam facere
- to form a plan, make a resolution: consilium capere, inire (de aliqua re, with Gen. gerund., with Inf., more rarely ut)
- to deliberate together (of a number of people): consilium habere (de aliqua re)
- to deliberate, consider (of individuals): consultare or deliberare (de aliqua re)
- designedly; intentionally: de industria, dedita opera (opp. imprudens)
- from memory; by heart: ex memoria (opp. de scripto)
- to reduce a thing to its theoretical principles; to apply theory to a thing: ad artem, ad rationem revocare aliquid (De Or. 2. 11. 44)
- to apply oneself very closely to literary, scientific work: in litteris elaborare (De Sen. 8. 26)
- to be a man of great learning: doctrina abundare (De Or. 3. 16. 59)
- abstruse studies: studia, quae in reconditis artibus versantur (De Or. 1. 2. 8)
- to have a thorough grasp of a subject: penitus percipere et comprehendere aliquid (De Or. 1. 23. 108)
- for a Roman he is decidedly well educated: sunt in illo, ut in homine Romano, multae litterae (De Sen. 4. 12)
- to civilise men, a nation: homines, gentem a fera agrestique vita ad humanum cultum civilemque deducere (De Or. 1. 8. 33)
- to obtain a result in something: aliquid efficere, consequi in aliqua re (De Or. 1. 33. 152)
- he is a young man of great promise: adulescens alios bene de se sperare iubet, bonam spem ostendit or alii de adulescente bene sperare possunt
- to take a lesson from some one's example: sibi exemplum sumere ex aliquo or exemplum capere de aliquo
- to give advice, directions, about a matter: praecepta dare, tradere de aliqua re
- Cicero's philosophical writings: Ciceronis de philosophia libri
- Solon, one of the seven sages: Solo, unus de septem (illis)
- to teac: tradere (aliquid de aliqua re)
- dialectical nicety: disserendi subtilitas (De Or. 1. 1. 68)
- moral science; ethics: philosophia, quae est de vita et moribus (Acad. 1. 5. 19)
- moral science; ethics: philosophia, in qua de bonis rebus et malis, deque hominum vita et moribus disputatur
- to systematise: ad rationem, ad artem et praecepta revocare aliquid (De Or. 1. 41)
- to determine the nature and constitution of the subject under discussion: constituere, quid et quale sit, de quo disputetur
- the points on which proofs are based; the grounds of proof: loci (τόποι) argumentorum (De Or. 2. 162)
- to discuss, investigate a subject scientifically: disputare (de aliqua re, ad aliquid)
- to discuss both sides of a question: in utramque partem, in contrarias partes disputare (De Or. 1. 34)
- to be contested, become the subject of debate: in controversiam vocari, adduci, venire (De Or. 2. 72. 291)
- the point at issue: id, de quo agitur or id quod cadit in controversiam
- a twofold tradition prevails on this subject: duplex est memoria de aliqua re
- to write poetry with facility: carmina , versus fundere (De Or. 3. 50)
- to learn to play a stringed instrument: fidibus discere (De Sen. 8. 26)
- the melody: modi (De Or. 1. 42. 187)
- the art of painting: ars pingendi, pictura (De Or. 2. 16. 69)
- the dramatic art: ars ludicra (De Or. 2. 20. 84)
- to retire from the stage: de scaena decedere
- to be fluent: disertum esse (De Or. 1. 21. 94)
- to be a capable, finished speaker: eloquentem esse (De Or. 1. 21. 94)
- flow of oratory: flumen orationis (De Or. 2. 15. 62)
- incorrect language: oratio inquinata (De Opt. Gen. Or. 3. 7)
- flowers of rhetoric; embellishments of style: lumina, flores dicendi (De Or. 3. 25. 96)
- to give an account of a thing (either orally or in writing): exponere aliquid or de aliqua re
- to make a character-sketch of a person: de ingenio moribusque alicuius exponere
- graphic depiction: rerum sub aspectum paene subiectio (De Or. 3. 53. 202)
- to go deeply into a matter, discuss it fully: multum, nimium esse (in aliqua re) (De Or. 2. 4. 17)
- to speak at great length on a subject, discuss very fully: fusius, uberius, copiosius disputare, dicere de aliqua re
- to interpolate, insert something: interponere aliquid (De Am. 1. 3)
- to digress, deviate: digredi (a proposito) (De Or. 2. 77. 311)
- a rather recondite speech: oratio longius repetita (De Or. 3. 24. 91)
- to read a speech: de scripto orationem habere, dicere (opp. sine scripto, ex memoria)
- the arrangement of the subject-matter: dispositio rerum (De Inv. 1. 7. 9)
- to set some one a theme for discussion: ponere alicui, de quo disputet
- to let those present fix any subject they like for discussion: ponere iubere, qua de re quis audire velit (Fin. 2. 1. 1)
- the question at issue: res, de qua nunc quaerimus, quaeritur
- to answer every question: percontanti non deesse (De Or. 1. 21. 97)
- a far-fetched joke: arcessitum dictum (De Or. 2. 63. 256)
- to be silly, without tact: ineptum esse (De Or. 2. 4. 17)
- to be united by having a common language: eiusdem linguae societate coniunctum esse cum aliquo (De Or. 3. 59. 223)
- to translate from Plato: ab or de (not ex) Platone vertere, convertere, transferre
- a linguist, philologian: grammaticus (De Or. 1. 3. 10)
- to employ carefully chosen expressions: lectissimis verbis uti (De Or. 3. 37)
- to say not a syllable about a person: ne verbum (without unum) quidem de aliquo facere
- to speak on a subject: verba facere (de aliqua re, apud aliquem)
- to begin with a long syllable: oriri a longa (De Or. 1. 55. 236)
- to compose, compile a book: librum conficere, componere (De Sen. 1. 2)
- there exists a book on..: est liber de...
- the book treats of friendship: hic liber est de amicitia (not agit) or hoc libro agitur de am.
- to lay down a book (vid. sect. XII. 3, note vestem deponere...): librum de manibus ponere
- humour; disposition: animi affectio or habitus (De Inv. 2. 5)
- I am pained, vexed, sorry: doleo aliquid, aliqua re, de and ex aliqua re
- not to trouble oneself about a thing: non laborare de aliqua re
- to disconcert a person: animum alicuius de statu, de gradu demovere (more strongly depellere, deturbare)
- to lose one's composure; to be disconcerted: de statu suo or mentis deici (Att. 16. 15)
- to lose one's composure; to be disconcerted: de gradu deici, ut dicitur
- what will become of me: quid (de) me fiet? (Ter. Heaut. 4. 3. 37)
- it's all over with me; I'm a lost man: actum est de me
- to hope well of a person: bene, optime (meliora) sperare de aliquo (Nep. Milt. 1. 1)
- to fulfil expectation: exspectationem explere (De Or. 1. 47. 205)
- to be touched with pity: misericordia moveri, capi (De Or. 2. 47)
- to have enthusiasm for a person or thing: studio ardere alicuius or alicuius rei (De Or. 2. 1. 1)
- to undermine a person's loyalty: de fide deducere or a fide abducere aliquem
- to make a thing credible: fidem facere, afferre alicui rei (opp. demere, de-, abrogare fidem)
- to be answerable for a person, a thing: praestare aliquem, aliquid, de aliqua re or Acc. c. Inf.
- to suspect a person: suspicionem habere de aliquo
- to be separated by a deadly hatred: capitali odio dissidere ab aliquo (De Am. 1. 2)
- to vent one's anger, spite on some one: virus acerbitatis suae effundere in aliquem (De Amic. 23. 87)
- his vices betray themselves: vitia erumpunt (in aliquem) (De Amic. 21. 76)
- to give some one satisfaction for an injury: satisfacere alicui pro (de) iniuriis
- apparently; to look at: specie (De Amic. 13. 47)
- to neglect one's duty: de, ab officio decedere
- to follow one's inclinations: studiis suis obsequi (De Or. 1. 1. 3)
- moral precepts: praecepta de moribus or de virtute
- to give moral advice, rules of conduct: de virtute praecipere alicui
- by divine inspiration (often = marvellously, excellently): divinitus (De Or. 1. 46. 202)
- to observe the sky (i.e. the flight of birds, lightning, thunder, etc.: de caelo servare (Att. 4. 3. 3)
- to escort a person from his house: deducere aliquem de domo
- to be a strict disciplinarian in one's household: severum imperium in suis exercere, tenere (De Sen. 11. 37)
- to dispossess a person: demovere, deicere aliquem de possessione
- to live on one's means: de suo (opp. alieno) vivere
- a sociable, affable disposition: facilitas, faciles mores (De Am. 3. 11)
- to turn the conversation on to a certain subject: sermonem inferre de aliqua re
- the conversation turned on..: sermo incidit de aliqua re
- to converse, talk with a person on a subject: sermonem habere cum aliquo de aliqua re (De Am. 1. 3)
- to exchange greetings: inter se consalutare (De Or. 2. 3. 13)
- to congratulate a person on something: gratulari alicui aliquid or de aliqua re
- to separate, be divorced (used of man or woman): nuntium remittere alicui (De Or. 1. 40)
- disinherited: exheres paternorum bonorum (De Or. 1. 38. 175)
- to introduce a thing into our customs; to familiarise us with a thing: in nostros mores inducere aliquid (De Or. 2. 28)
- to transact, settle a matter with some one: transigere aliquid (de aliqua re) cum aliquo or inter se
- to subtract something from the capital: de capite deducere (vid. sect. XII. 1, note Notice too...) aliquid
- to demand an account, an audit of a matter: rationem ab aliquo reptere de aliqua re (Cluent. 37. 104)
- credit has disappeared: fides (de foro) sublata est (Leg. Agr. 2. 3. 8)
- to have pecuniary difficulties: laborare de pecunia
- as you sow, so will you reap: ut sementem feceris, ita metes (proverb.) (De Or. 2. 65)
- to plant trees: arbores serere (De Sen. 7. 24)
- to have the good of the state at heart: bene, optime sentire de re publica
- to have the good of the state at heart: omnia de re publica praeclara atque egregia sentire
- the head of the state: rector civitatis (De Or. 1. 48. 211)
- statesmanship; political wisdom: prudentia (civilis) (De Or. 1. 19. 85)
- to foresee political events long before: longe prospicere futuros casus rei publicae (De Amic. 12. 40)
- one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
- one of the crowd; a mere individual: unus de or e multis
- to overthrow a person (cf. sect. IX. 6): aliquem de dignitatis gradu demovere
- to overthrow a person (cf. sect. IX. 6): aliquem gradu movere, depellere or de gradu (statu) deicere
- deposed from one's high position: de principatu deiectus (B. G. 7. 63)
- to contend with some one for the pre-eminence: contendere cum aliquo de principatu (Nep. Arist. 1)
- to record in the official tablets (Annales maximi): in album referre (De Or. 2. 12. 52)
- to have the same political opinions: idem de re publica sentire
- to form a conspiracy: coniurare (inter se) de c. Gerund. or ut...
- to banish a person, send him into exile: de, e civitate aliquem eicere
- to expel a person from the city, country: exterminare (ex) urbe, de civitate aliquem (Mil. 37. 101)
- a returning from exile to one's former privileges: postliminium (De Or. 1. 40. 181)
- to shake hands with voters in canvassing: manus prensare (De Or. 1. 24. 112)
- to give up, lay down office (usually at the end of one's term of office): de potestate decedere
- men of rank and dignity: viri clari et honorati (De Sen. 7. 22)
- a man who has held many offices: honoribus ac reipublicae muneribus perfunctus (De Or. 1. 45)
- to offically proclaim (by the praeco, herald) a man elected consul; to return a man consul: aliquem consulem renuntiare (De Or. 2. 64. 260)
- to consult the senators on a matter: patres (senatum) consulere de aliqua re (Sall. Iug. 28)
- the senate inclines to the opinion, decides for..: senatus sententia inclīnat ad... (De Sen. 6. 16)
- what is your opinion: quid de ea re fieri placet?
- to waive one's right: de iure suo decedere or cedere
- to hold an inquiry into a matter: quaerere aliquid or de aliqua re
- to examine a person, a matter: quaestionem habere de aliquo, de aliqua re or in aliquem
- to have a person tortured: quaerere tormentis de aliquo
- to examine slaves by torture: de servis quaerere (in dominum)
- counsel; advocate: patronus (causae) (De Or. 2. 69)
- to strike a person's name off the list of the accused: eximere de reis aliquem
- to accuse a person of extortion (to recover the sums extorted): postulare aliquem repetundarum or de repetundis
- to accuse some one of illegal canvassing: accusare aliquem ambitus, de ambitu
- to accuse a person of violence, poisoning: accusare aliquem de vi, de veneficiis
- to decide on the conduct of the case: iudicare causam (de aliqua re)
- to exact a penalty from some one: supplicium sumere de aliquo
- to atone for something by..: luere aliquid aliqua re (De Sen. 20)
- to execute the death-sentence on a person: supplicium sumere de aliquo
- to congratulate a person on his victory: victoriam or de victoria gratulari alicui
- to triumph over some one: triumphare de aliquo (ex bellis)
- to triumph over some one: triumphum agere de or ex aliquo or c. Gen. (victoriae, pugnae)
- to treat with some one about peace: agere cum aliquo de pace
- to stop rowing; to easy: sustinere, inhibere remos (De Or. 1. 33)
- to land, disembark: exire ex, de navi
- not to mention..: ut non (nihil) dicam de...
- this can be said of..., applies to..: hoc dici potest de aliqua re
- I have a few words to say on this: mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re
- more of this another time: sed de hoc alias pluribus
- so much for this subject...; enough has been said on..: atque haec quidem de...
- so much for this subject...; enough has been said on..: ac (sed) de ... satis dixi, dictum est
- I am sorry to hear..: male (opp. bene) narras (de)
- but enough: sed manum de tabula!
- de in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
- Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32: "Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū—each, again, with a long vowel sound."
(2012) The Unicode Consortium, The Unicode Standard: Version 6.1 – Core Specification. →ISBN, page 468; citing: (1985) Geoffrey Sampson, Writing Systems: A Linguistic Introduction, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. →ISBN.