Word origins

• danglebahnA suspended monorail, cable car or public transport system.
• DannemillerA surname from German.
• dark figureThe estimated number of unreported criminal cases.
• dark matterMatter which cannot be detected by its radiation but whose presence is inferred from gravitational effects.
• DarmstädterA native or inhabitant of Darmstadt.
• darmstadtiumA transuranic chemical element (symbol Ds) with atomic number 110.
• Das ReichThe 2nd SS Division.
• DauenhauerA surname from German.
• dauermodificationThe persistence of an abnormal characteristic – generally an environmentally induced trait – over several generations of the organism. Such characteristics are inherited through the cytoplasm and tend to disappear after a few generations.
• daughter languageA language which genetically descends from an earlier parent language.
• daxophoneAn electric wooden experimental musical instrument, a kind of friction idiophone.
• day's residueThe elements of the events of the preceding day that subsequently occur in a dream.
• DeahlA surname from German.
• DearingerA surname from German.
• death driveThe drive toward death and self-destruction.
• death wishA desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.
• DeboldA surname from German.
• debrecinerSynonym of debrecener (A Hungarian sausage)
• debreczinerSynonym of debrecener (A Hungarian sausage)
• debrezinerSynonym of debrecener (A Hungarian sausage)
• deckmanA man who works on the deck of a ship.
• defense mechanismA psychological strategy used unconsciously by people to cope with harmful or stressful situations.
• DehnertA surname from German.
• dehnstufeThe lengthened grade that appears in words of a certain root group, or stem group, in the course of vocalic variations.
• dehydrasedehydrogenase
• DeikeA surname from German.
• DeisherA surname from German.
• DeitersA surname from German.
• DelbrückA surname from German.
• demantoidA green garnet.
• DemickA surname from German.
• DemlerA surname from German.
• DendingerA surname from German.
• DerfnerA surname from German.
• DermatozoenwahnDelusional parasitosis (delusional disorder in which individuals incorrectly believe they are infested with parasites, insects, or bugs).
• desert foxThe fennec.
• DeterdingA surname from German.
• DetertA surname from German.
• DethloffA surname from German.
• detritivoreAn organism that feeds on detritus.
• DettlingA surname from German.
• Deutsche MarkThe former currency unit of Germany (now replaced by the euro), abbreviated as DM or DEM.
• devil dogA US marine.
• devisenForeign currency.
• DexheimerA surname from German.
• DexitThe hypothetical withdrawal of Germany from the European Union.
• diagonalismThe coming together of antagonistic groups around one issue on which they find common ground, for instance the rejection of vaccination.
• dialectical materialismThe concept of reality in which material things are in the constant process of change brought about by the tension between conflicting or interacting forces, elements, or ideas.
• DibertA surname from German.
• DickermannA surname from German.
• dickkopfAny of a family of glycoproteins that are involved in the development of the embryo.
• dictatorship of the bourgeoisieA socio-political power wherein the bourgeoisie collectively holds the most influence over politics and the masses, as opposed to the dictatorship of the proletariat.
• dictatorship of the proletariatA socio-political power characterized by a struggle to achieve a communist society, as opposed to the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
• DieckA surname from German.
• DieckhausA surname from German
• DiedrickA surname from German.
• DiekhoffA surname from German.
• DiekmanA surname from German.
• DiemertA surname from German.
• DierbergA surname from German.
• DietzenA surname from German.
• DietzmanA surname from German.
• DiffenderferA surname from German.
• DingmannA surname from German.
• DircksA surname.
• DirlewangerA surname from German; especially when referring to Waffen-SS war criminal Oskar Dirlewanger.
• DischerA surname from German.
• DishnerA surname from German.
• DisibodenbergA ruined monastery near Staudernheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
• DithmarschenA district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
• DivelbissA surname from German.
• DobbersteinA surname from German.
• dockenA dock (plant); Rumex obtusifolius or Rumex crispus.
• documentary hypothesisThe hypothesis that the Pentateuch consists of two or more, usually four, originally distinct major documents.
• DoehringA surname from German.
• DoengesA surname from German.
• dogwatchAboard a ship, either of the two short two-hour watches that take place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• DohnA surname from German.
• DohnerA surname from German.
• DolgeA surname from German.
• dolineA depression (basin, hollow) in karstic terrain/limestone.
• DomeierA surname from German.
• DommerA surname from German.
• DonaustadtThe district of Vienna, Austria which currently covers the eastern quarter of that city.
• DonmoyerA surname from German.
• doodlesackThe bagpipes.
• DoofenshmirtzianOf or pertaining to Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, an affable, hapless mad scientist character from the 2007 American animated television series Phineas and Ferb.
• DordevichA surname from German.
• DornfeldA surname from German.
• DornfelderA dark-skinned grape variety used for red wine, developed as a hybrid (Helfensteiner × Heroldrebe) by August Herold in 1955 at the Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Wein- und Obstbau Weinsberg (State Education and Research Institute for Viticulture and Pomology Weinsberg) in Württemberg, Germany.
• DorpatFormer name of Tartu.
• DorriesA surname from German.
• double moralA double standard.
• DouttA surname from German.
• DoverspikeA surname from German.
• DrachenfutterA gift given to placate someone, especially a spouse, who is angry at the giver.
• DrahthaarSynonym of German Wirehaired Pointer.
• dreibeinTrihedron.
• dreikanterA type of pebble that has three curved faces formed by wind-blown sand.
• DreimorengesetzThe three-mora rule, specifying where to place the accent in Germanic words.