Word origins

• culverinA kind of handgun.
• cupmakersomeone who makes cups
• cupsterA cupper (one who performs the medical operation of cupping).
• cursedlyIn a cursed manner; miserably
• cursednessThe state or quality of being cursed.
• cursefulhorrendous, horrific
• curvatebent in a regular form ; curved.
• cushatA pigeon, wood pigeon or ring dove.
• custronA kitchen-worker, a scullion; any worthless person.
• cutpurseA thief who steals from others' purses or pockets in public.
• cuttleboneSynonym of cuttlefish bone (“the calcareous, oval-shaped internal shell of a cuttlefish (order Sepiida), originally used in powdered form as an antacid and for absorbing moisture or polishing objects, and now chiefly as a dietary supplement for cage birds”).
• daintifulSynonym of dainty
• dalkA pin; brooch; clasp.
• damagefulCharacterised by or causing damage; harmful
• damagelessWithout damage; unharmed
• dammerOne who builds a dam.
• damnablyIn a damnable manner.
• danceressA female dancer.
• danegeldA tax raised originally to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders in the 10th and 11th centuries to save a land from being ravaged, and later continued as a land tax.
• DanelawThe part of Great Britain in which the laws of the Scandinavians dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons.
• darnelAny of the genus Lolium of grasses, especially as a weed in wheat fields.
• dastardA malicious coward; a dishonorable sneak.
• daughter-in-lawThe wife of one's child.
• daughterlessWithout a daughter.
• dayworkThe work done in a day; a day's work.
• dead as a doornailUnquestionably dead. Used for both inanimate objects and once living beings.
• deadlinessThe quality of being deadly.
• dearworthPrecious, valuable; beloved.
• deathdayThe day of a person's death, especially when viewed as being appointed by fate.
• deathfulInvolving the danger of death; fatal, deadly.
• deathlinessThe state or quality of being deathly.
• deathworthyWorthy of death, worthy of capital punishment.
• deaurateTo gild.
• deceivableAble to be deceived; gullible.
• deceivablyIn a deceivable way; gullibly, ingenuously.
• decupleTenfold.
• deechTo smear, daub, plaster, or impregnate, especially with dirt which becomes hard and ingrained.
• deemsterA judge; one who pronounces sentence or doom.
• deep blueAn intense, relatively dark blue.
• deep seaThe deeper part of the sea or ocean in which no light penetrates.
• deerfoldA fold or park for deer.
• defendressfemale defender.
• defoilTo defile or despoil.
• defoulTo trample underfoot.
• delatorAn accuser; an informer.
• delectabilityThe quality of being delectable.
• deliciosityquality of being delicious
• delightableDelightful.
• delightousdelightful
• demi-partial
• demonstrancedemonstration; proof
• departitionseparation
• depauperateHaving stunted growth
• deperishTo waste away; to deteriorate.
• depopulatorA person who depopulates an area, especially one who forcibly removes people from an estate.
• depraveTo speak ill of; to depreciate; to malign; to revile
• de profundisFrom deep feelings of misery or despair.
• deraignTo prove or refute, especially through combat.
• des-A removal of a group from a molecule.
• descensionDescent; the act of descending.
• deserverSomeone who deserves.
• despisableWorthy to be despised.
• despiteousFull of contempt or ill will; opprobrious; insulting.
• despoilerOne who despoils; one who strips by force; a plunderer.
• desportTo disport.
• despumeTo free from spume, foam or scum.
• desuetudeThe state when something (for example, a custom or a law) is no longer observed nor practised; disuse, obsolescence.
• detinueA person or thing detained; a detainee.
• devilryMischief.
• devirginateTo deprive of virginity; to deflower.
• dewlapThe pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, or a similar feature on any other animal.
• dicacitypertness; sauciness
• dictatureOffice of a dictator; dictatorship.
• diminuteSmall; diminutive.
• dindleTo tingle, as from cold; quiver; thrill
• dirtenDirty; filthy
• dis-Not, the reverse of. (Especially forming words with a negative connotation)
• disaccordThe absence or reverse of accord.
• disaccustomTo cause (someone) to break a habit or become unaccustomed to something that they were previously accustomed to
• disadvanceTo draw back, pull back.
• disafforestTo deforest.
• disciplessA female disciple.
• discludeTo disclose, make known.
• discomfitTo embarrass (someone) greatly; to confuse; to perplex; to disconcert.
• discommonTo deprive of the privilege of citizenship of a town or city.
• disdainousdisdainful
• disharnessTo take off one's armor; to strip off one's armor.
• disheritTo disinherit.
• disheritanceSynonym of disinheritance.
• dishfulAs much as a dish will hold.
• disjoinTo separate; to disunite.
• disobeyanceSynonym of disobedience.
• disourA professional storyteller or joker.
• dispenderA steward or treasurer.
• disperishTo be ruined or lost; to perish.
• disportTo amuse oneself divertingly or playfully; in particular, to cavort or gambol.
• disseizinThe act of disseizing; an act of unlawful dispossessing, especially of someone's lands.
• dissemblerSomeone who dissembles.
• disseverTo separate (two or more things); to split apart (something).
• dissimilitudeThe quality of being dissimilar or different; lack of resemblance.