Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

de-

/dɛ/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.23 in modern English

Syllables: de-
IPA: /dɛ/

3

Scrabble Score

2

Letters

2

Syllables

2

Unique Chars

Meaning

prefix

reversal, undoing

prefix

to remove from, removed

prefix

prefix

derived from, of

prefix

prefix

Unisex prefix used in African-American given names.

American usage

Example Sentences

"de- + couple → decouple"
"de- + align → dealign"
"de- + ice → de-ice"
"de- + baptize → debaptize"
"de- + bus → debus"
"de- + bark → debark"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- From Latin dē-, from the preposition dē (“of”, “from”). For sense development, compare Old English æf-, which was a similar prefix.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: dē-, de

Usage

American usage

Derived Forms

debar debus decouple decrypt deforestation

Phrases

an- dis- in- non- un-

Frequently Paired Words

an- dis- in- non- un- de Le- La-

Synonyms

un- dis- in- des- off- out- ab- apo- away off

Antonyms

re- em-

Questions

How do you pronounce de-?: The recorded pronunciation is /dɛ/.
What does de- mean?: reversal, undoing
Where does de- come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce de-

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “de-”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɛ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “de-”.
Repeat and practice — Say “de-” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.