Meanings
- not comparableAnew, afresh, from the beginning; without consideration of previous instances, proceedings or determinations.
Near-synonym: in a vacuum
2 more examples
Such development was not de novo; antecedents are apparent.
He filed a motion for a de novo hearing.
Synonyms: in a vacuum
- not comparableAnew (from the beginning).
Near-synonym: in a vacuum
4 more examples
Having found the lower court's analysis wrong, the appellate court undertook a review de novo.
One luckless wight contrived to upset the gravy; and then gravy had to be got up de novo, with due care and formality,[…]
1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter VII, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLCTalking of “natural selection;” if I had to commence de novo, I would have used “natural preservation.”
1887, Charles Darwin, “To C. Lyell, September 28, 1860”, in Francis Darwin, editor, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, volume II, New York: D. Appleton & CompanyBut if I had not taken things for granted, if I had examined everything with the care which I should have shown had we approached the case de novo and had no cut-and-dried story to warp my mind, should I not then have found something more definite to go upon?
1904 September, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLCSynonyms: in a vacuum
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAnew, afresh, from the beginning; without consideration of previous instances, proceedings or determinations.
adverbAnew (from the beginning).
Origin
Cite this entry
de novo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de%20novo
“de novo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de%20novo. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “de novo,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de%20novo.
Source: de novo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.