Skip to content Word origins
All derived from 9,053 borrowed from 5,710 learned borrowing from 1,127 calque of 209 semantic loan from 2 depilate To remove all hair from skin so as to make it smooth. depilous hairless deplication An unfolding, unplaiting, or untwisting. deplorate deplorable depone To testify, especially in the form of a deposition. depopulant Something that depopulates. depositum A deposit. deprecable That may or should be deprecated. deprecator One who deprecates. depredate To ransack or plunder; to prey upon. deprehend To take unawares or by surprise; to catch or seize (a criminal etc.) in the act. deprehension A catching in the act; discovery (of a misdeed) depriment Serving to depress (force or push down). de profundis From deep feelings of misery or despair. depulse To drive away. depulsion expulsion or repulsion. depulsory Driving or thrusting away; averting. depurgatory Serving to purge; tending to cleanse or purify. de re Taking the thing of reference in consideration. dereism Mental activity directed away from reality and towards subjective ideas or conceptions; fantasizing. dereistic Not in accordance with reality; subjective, founded in fantasy. derelinquish to abandon or desert, to leave to itself derisible Deserving derision (“treatment with disdain or contempt”). derogant derogatory derogator A detractor. describent A generatrix. descriptum That which is described; the subject of a description. desiccate To remove moisture from; to dry; (sometimes) to dry to an extreme degree. desiderable Desirable. desideration The act of desiderating. desiderative Having or indicating wish or desire. desidiose idle; lazy desidious Lazy, idle, slothful. desinent Ending; forming an end; lowermost. desipience silliness, folly desipient foolish; silly despiciency The act of looking down on someone; despisal. despoliation A stripping or plundering; spoliation. desponsage Synonym of betrothal. despumate To skim the froth or other impurities from a liquid, to clarify, purify. despumation The act of giving off froth or scum. desquamate To remove the scales from, to scale; (less narrowly) to peel. destinate To destine, to choose. destituent Deficient; lacking. desudation A profuse or morbid sweating, often succeeded by a rash of small pimples. desuete Disused; out of use. desuetudinous Of or pertaining to desuetude; of a law or statute, no longer observed, practiced or enforced. desultor A person skilled at leaping from one horse or chariot to another. desume To borrow, extract, or select. deteriority A worsening in quality or state; or inferiority. determinans A modifier; a word that modifies another word. determinator A determining factor. deterration The uncovering of anything buried or covered with earth; an unearthing. detorsion The reduction of torsion, such as in correction of volvulated bowel. detort to turn from the original or plain meaning. detractory That detracts from something; disparaging, depreciatory. detrect To refuse; to decline. detrectation Drawing back; refusal; withdrawal. detruncate To truncate (shorten by cutting, or lop off) detruncation truncation (the act of lopping off, or shortening detrusion A downward out outward thrust. detur A prize consisting of a book given to a meritorious sophomore student. The official name is the Detur Prize or Detur Book Prize deturb To usurp or depose. deturbate To evict; to remove. deturpate To defile; to disfigure. Deucaledon Ocean A historical ocean which comprises roughly the northernmost parts of the Atlantic Ocean. Deusdedit A male given name from Latin. deus ex machina Any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and that is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author, director, or developer to end the story in the way that they desired. devex Bending down, stooping or sloping. devexity A bending downward; declivity. devil in music The tritone. devil's advocate One who debates from a viewpoint which one may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument. devil's bit A plant of species Succisa pratensis, native to Europe. devil's proof A legal requirement to achieve an impossible proof. Remedies are reversing the burden of proof, or giving additional rights to the individual faced with this requirement. devirginate To deprive of virginity; to deflower. devitable avoidable. devitation An avoiding or escaping. devocation A calling off or away. devolute To devolve. devoration The act of devouring. devotor A worshipper; someone given to devotion. dextro- Right; on the right; toward the right. dextrorse Growing in a pattern that spirals clockwise around a central support; turning to the right when growing taller. di- Two. diabetes insipidus A disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, which cannot be reduced when fluid intake is reduced. diabolify To ascribe diabolical qualities to; to change into, or represent as, a devil. diabology The study of the Devil in religion. diapasm powdered aromatic herbs, sometimes made into little balls and strung together diapente The interval of the fifth or the harmonic ratio 3:2. diaphaneity transparency diastem Intervening space; interval. diatessaron The interval of a fourth or the harmonic ratio 4:3. dicacious Talkative; pert; saucy. dictamen A dictation or dictate. dictatrix A female dictator. didascalic Of or relating to education or teaching; didactic. diduction The act of drawing apart; separation. dies infaustus Unlucky day. dies juridicus A court day, i.e. a day when a legal court is functioning. dies non A day on which courts are not held.