Word origins

• desmitisinflammation of a ligament.
• desmo-bond, connection, ligament
• desmocollinAny of a family of glycoproteins (cadherin), found in desmosomes, responsible for intercellular adhesion.
• desmodontAny of a group of South American blood-sucking bats of the genera Desmodus and Diphylla.
• desmodromicHaving different controls for its actuation in different directions, especially of an engine valve that is positively closed by a cam and leverage system rather than springs.
• desmoidPertaining to a bundle.
• desmologyThe branch of anatomy which concerns ligaments.
• DesposyniThose people in the same family descent as Jesus Christ.
• deuteragonistA secondary character; specifically, the second most important character (after the protagonist).
• deuterideAny hydride in which normal hydrogen is replaced by deuterium.
• deutero-Second or secondary.
• deuteropathyA sympathetic affection of any part of the body, such as headache from an overloaded stomach.
• dia-through, across
• diabaterialCrossing the boundaries.
• diabololatrydevil worship
• diabrosiscorrosion, erosion, or ulceration
• diachoresisThe excretion or passage of feces.
• diachylonA plaster originally composed of the juices of several plants, later made of an oxide of lead and oil, and consisting essentially of glycerine mixed with lead salts of the fat acids.
• diachysisA method of separating molecules or particles of different sizes by differential diffusion through a semipermeable membrane.
• diacodiumA type of syrup made from poppies.
• diacranterianHaving the back teeth separated from the front teeth.
• diacrisisSynonym of diagnosis.
• diadelphousOf a flower, or the plant bearing it: having the stamens fused together at least partly by the filaments so that they form two separate bundles, or a bundle and a lone separate stamen.
• diadochiThe rival generals of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BCE.
• diadochokinesisThe action of alternately flexing and extending a limb
• diadromA complete course or vibration, as of a pendulum.
• diadumenosA form of Ancient Greek sculpture featuring a young man holding a knotted diadem (as the winner of a contest).
• diagraphA drawing instrument that combines a protractor and scale.
• dialetheiaA statement that is both true and false; a true contradiction.
• dialetheismThe theory that statements can be both true and false at the same time and in the same sense. The opposite of the law of noncontradiction.
• dialypetalousHaving separate or separable petals
• dialyticRelating to, or producing dissolution
• dianoeticPertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual.
• diapedesisThe migration of blood cells, especially leucocytes, through the intact walls of blood vessels into the surrounding tissue.
• diaphanometerAn instrument for measuring the transparency of a fluid, such as a Secchi disk.
• diaphanotypeA colour photograph produced by superimposing a translucent coloured positive over a strong uncoloured one.
• diaphemetricRelating to the measurement of tactile sensibility.
• diaphonyA form of harmony in which the parts proceeded by parallel motion in fourths, fifths, and octaves.
• diaphoteA supposed instrument designed for transmitting pictures by telegraph. It turned out the device was a hoax.
• diapirAn intrusion of a ductile rock into an overburden.
• diapnoicMidly increasing perspiration; mildly diaphoretic.
• diapyesissuppuration
• diascordiumA medicine made from dried herbs, especially Teucrium scordium.
• diaskeuasisThe process of reviewing or revising a text.
• diasporalPertaining to a diaspora.
• diasporeA natural hydrate of aluminium, sometimes forming stalactites.
• diastaseAny one of a group of enzymes which catalyse the breakdown of starch into maltose; mostly amylases (α-amylase and β-amylase).
• diastemaA gap or space between two adjacent teeth, especially the upper front incisors (in humans).
• diasterA double star; applied to the nucleus of a cell, when, during cell division, the loops of the nuclear network separate into two groups, preparatory to the formation of two daughter nuclei.
• diasyrmDescribing something already petty or mean in words that make it seem even more so.
• diatrymaA big-beaked prehistoric bird in the genus Gastornis, larger than the ostrich, believed to have become extinct 15- to 25-million years ago due to a vast climate change.
• diatyposisA testament.
• diazeucticDisjoining two fourths.
• diazomaA corridor that divided sections of an Ancient Greek theatre.
• dicho-Used with words of Greek origin.
• dichogamyThe condition in which an organism changes sex during its lifetime.
• dichotomizeTo separate into two parts, to classify into two classes, or to categorize into two categories.
• dichromacyThe quality of having two independent channels for conveying color information in the eye.
• dichromatichaving two colors.
• dichromicfurnishing or giving two colours; said of defective vision, in which all the compound colours are resolvable into two elements instead of three
• dicrotismThe condition of each beat of the pulse consisting of two sphygmographic waves.
• dictyo-net
• dictyogenA plant with net-veined leaves and monocotyledonous embryos, belonging to the class Dictyogenae, proposed by Lindley for the families Dioscoreaceae, Smilacaceae, Trilliaceae, etc.
• dictyonalPertaining to a rigid framework of fused sponge spicules.
• dictyoniteA reticulated form of migmatite
• dicynodontA member of the infraorder Dicynodontia of dominant herbivores of the Late Permian, the most successful group of non-mammalian synapsids.
• didactA didactic person.
• didelphidA member of Didelphidae; opossum
• didelphousSynonym of didelphic.
• didymalgiaPain in the testes.
• didymiumA mixture of praseodymium and neodymium once thought to be an element (symbol Di).
• didymosThe small binary Near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos. Its tiny moon is Dimorphos
• didymousTwin, twinned; growing or occurring in pairs.
• diegesisA narration or recitation.
• diergismThe existence, in a single species, of two distinct ways of a structure or organ functioning.
• diesisAny of several intervals, smaller than a tone, in ancient Greek music.
• diglottismbilingualism
• digoneuticHaving two broods per season.
• digraphiaThe concurrent use of two scripts for the same spoken language.
• DikêThe goddess personifying the principle of justice.
• dikirionA liturgical candlestick holding two candles, used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.
• dilogicalambiguous; having double meaning
• dimerousIn two parts; having two parts in each whorl of a flower.
• dimicticHaving two thermal overturns per year.
• dinergateA large leaf-cutter ant; a major.
• dinericOf a liquid: eddying or whirling.
• dineticalRevolving on an axis.
• dinicRelating to vertigo or dizziness.
• dino-Used for presumably fearfully large or dangerous animals or animal parts.
• dinocerasSynonym of uintathere.
• dinopidAny member of the family Deinopidae of net-casting spiders.
• dioecyThe condition of being dioecious, namely having separate sexes, especially of plants.
• diokophobiaThe irrational fear of being chased, regardless of the pursuer or the potential danger.
• diorismlogical distinction; definition
• diorthoticcorrective.
• diphycercalDescribing a symmetric tailfin in which the vertebral column extends to the tip.
• diphygenicHaving two modes of embryonic development.
• diphyllousHaving two leaves.
• diphyodontHaving two successive sets of teeth (deciduous and permanent), one succeeding the other.
• diphyodontyThe condition, in some animals, of having only one set of replacement teeth following a first erupted set.