Word origins

• DauphinéA former province in southeastern France, centred on Grenoble.
• DauphinoisOf, from or relating to the Dauphiné
• dauradesea bream
• DauzatA surname from French.
• debiteuseA ceramic die used in the Fourcault process, made to float on the molten glass and having a slot through which the glass is shaped.
• déblaiThe cavity from which the earth for a fortification's parapets, etc. (remblai), has been taken.
• débouchéAn exit or outlet.
• debrideTo remove necrotic tissue or foreign matter from (a wound or the like).
• de BrienneA surname from French.
• de BroglieA surname from French.
• DebrosseA surname from French.
• debuscopeA form of kaleidoscope.
• débutantA male who débuts.
• débutanteA female who débuts.
• deca-Ten.
• decagramAn SI unit of mass equal to 10¹ grams. Symbol: dag
• decalcomaniaThe process of transferring decorative designs onto surfaces using decals.
• decalcomaniedecalcomania
• decametreAn SI unit of length equal to 10¹ metres. Symbol: dam
• decantationThe act of decanting the supernatant liquid from a solid sediment.
• decateSynonym of decatize (“steam fabric”).
• decatizeTo steam something (typically a fabric) with the intention of uncurling it, giving it a lustre, or fixing a finish on it.
• DecelleA surname from French.
• DecellesA surname from French.
• deciareA measure of area, equivalent to one tenth of an are, or ten square metres.
• decigramAn SI unit of mass equal to 10⁻¹ grams. Symbol: dg
• decigrammeUK spelling of decigram.
• decimeSynonym of tithing (a division of the hundreds of medieval England)
• decimetreAn SI unit of length equal to 10⁻¹ metres. Symbol: dm
• decistereOne tenth of a stere or cubic metre.
• déclasséDegraded from one's social class.
• décollageThe opposite of collage: the process of cutting, tearing, etc. an original image to produce a new work.
• décollementA gliding plane between two rock masses; a basal detachment fault.
• décolletageA low neckline on a woman's dress, especially one that reveals or emphasizes her cleavage.
• décolletéHaving a low neckline that reveals the cleavage.
• decolorantA substance that removes colour, or bleaches.
• DedieuA surname from French.
• de EntremontA surname from French, variant of Entremont
• deessA goddess.
• defrockTo divest of a frock.
• dégagéunconstrained; easy; free
• DegazonA surname from French.
• degenerescencedegeneration
• DeGraceA surname from French.
• de GrasseA surname from French.
• degringoladeA rapid decline or deterioration; a tumble.
• de haut en basWith condescension; superciliously. Also used attributively.
• déjà vuThe subjective, unexpected feeling of having experienced something before, especially when that is not the case.
• DejerineA surname from French.
• déjeunerThe French midday meal.
• de jourContemporary or most recent; en vogue; trendy.
• DelashmitA surname from French.
• DeLashmuttA surname from French.
• DelcampA surname from French.
• de LessepsA surname from French.
• DelfourA surname from French.
• deliminateTo delimit.
• delimitateTo delimit, especially in the computing sense.
• DelobelA surname from French.
• delopeTo fire a gun into the air in order to end a duel.
• DelpuechA surname from French [in turn from Occitan].
• delvauxiteA yellow or brown amorphous mineral, sometimes forming a botryoidal mass or stalactites.
• démarcheA diplomatic maneuver; one handled with finesse.
• DeMaryA surname from French.
• demibastionA half bastion, or the part of a bastion consisting of one face and one flank.
• demibrigadehalf a brigade.
• demicadenceA half cadence.
• demi-caractèreWhich, in the historical French nomenclature, was halfway between serious (sérieux) and comic (comique); typically, where the protagonists or the plot were not noble enough compared to those derived from mythology or history, but could still convey serious emotions (see for example the 1886 Camille Bellaigue quotation about Bizet's opera Carmen under French demi-caractère)
• demiglaceA rich brown sauce in French cuisine, typically made from veal stock and espagnole sauce, used by itself or as a base for other sauces.
• demigorgeHalf the gorge, or entrance into a bastion, taken from the angle of the flank to the centre of the bastion.
• demimondaineA sexually promiscuous woman (of the demimonde).
• demimondeA class of women maintained by wealthy protectors; female courtesans or prostitutes as a group.
• demireliefdemi-rilievo
• demi-secMedium dry (of wines).
• demitintThat part of a painting, engraving etc. which is neither fully dark nor fully light.
• démodéOutdated, old-fashioned.
• DemontA surname from French.
• DemoryA surname from French.
• dénouementThe conclusion or resolution of a plot; unravelling.
• d'EntremontA surname from French, variant of Entremont
• DentremontA surname from French, variant of Entremont
• Dents du MidiA three-kilometre-long mountain range in the Chablais Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland.
• départementAn administrative unit in various French-speaking countries, smaller than a région, similar to an English county.
• départementalOf or relating to a département.
• De PassA surname from French.
• deplaceTo displace.
• depliageA surrealist method in which one removes the staples from a staple-bound magazine, making into one "page" what had previously been more or less widely-separated pages; the resulting "page" can either be kept as is or used as the basis for a collage.
• deplumeTo strip of feathers or plumage.
• depucelageThe loss of a girl or woman's virginity.
• deracineHaving been uprooted.
• DeranqueA surname from French.
• de rigueurNecessary according to etiquette, protocol or fashion.
• dériveA revolutionary strategy proposed in 1956 by Guy Debord: a mode of experimental behaviour linked to the conditions of urban society, in which participants drop their everyday relations and enter into spontaneous encounters and interactions.
• dermabraseTo perform dermabrasion.
• dernier criThe latest sensation; the last word, the newest or ultimate expression or example (of something).
• dernyA motorized bicycle for paced cycling events such as keirin.
• DerousseA surname from French.
• derrièreBottom, bum, backside.
• DeruelleA surname from French.
• DescemetA surname from French.