de-

stressed/dɛ/stressed/diː/unstressed/də/unstressed/dɪ/

prefix

reversal, undoing

“de- + bus → debus”

Similar
un-dis-in-des-off-out-ab-apo-
Opposite
re-em-
OriginLatin dē- ← Proto-Italic *dē ← Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ →
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Meanings

de-1

prefix
  1. reversal, undoing

    de- + ice → de-ice

    3 more examples

    de- + couple → decouple

    de- + align → dealign

    de- + baptize → debaptize

    Synonyms: un-, dis-, in-

  2. to remove from, removed

    de- + bus → debus

    3 more examples

    de- + bark → debark

    de- + benzylate → debenzylate

    de- + arterialization → dearterialization

    Synonyms: des-, un-

  3. Intensifying

    de- + fraud → defraud

    5 more examples

    de- + complex → decomplex

    de- + numerate → denumerate

    de- + pauperize → depauperize

    de- + prostrate → deprostrate

    de- + specificate → despecificate

  4. derived from, of

    de- + mise → demise

    2 more examples

    de- + substantival → desubstantival

    de- + verbal → deverbal

  5. down, downward

    de- + press → depress

    1 more example

    de- + scando → descend

De-2

prefix
  1. USAfrican-American VernacularUnisex prefix used in African-American given names.

    De- + Andre → DeAndre

    2 more examples

    De- + Shawna → DeShawna

    De- + Angelo → DeAngelo

Synonyms & antonyms

prefixreversal, undoing

Similar
un-dis-in-

prefixto remove from, removed

Similar
des-un-

from

Similar
off-out-ab-apo-awayoff

antonym(s) of “undo”

Opposite
re-

antonym(s) of “remove”

Opposite
em-
Also see
ab-apo-awaydis-non-off-out-un-

Origin

de- · prefix

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Englishde-

From Latin dē-, from the preposition dē (“of”, “from”). For sense development, compare Old English æf-, which was a similar prefix.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

De- · prefix

  1. Frenchde“of, from”
  2. EnglishDe-

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Bulgarian де-
  • де- (de-)reversal, undoing or removing
Catalan de-, des-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
  • des-reversal, undoing or removing
Chinese Mandarin 去-
  • 去- (qù-)reversal, undoing or removing
Czech de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Danish af-, de-
  • af-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Dutch ver-, ont-
  • ver-reversal, undoing or removing
  • ont-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Estonian de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Finnish de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
French dé-
  • dé-reversal, undoing or removing
German ent-, de-
  • ent-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Greek απο-
  • απο- (apo-)reversal, undoing or removing
Hebrew דֵּה־
  • דֵּה־ (de-)reversal, undoing or removing
Hungarian de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Indonesian de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Italian dis-, de-
  • dis-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-intensify
Japanese 非-, 脱-
  • 非- (hi-)reversal, undoing or removing
  • 脱- (datsu-)reversal, undoing or removing
  • 逆- (saka-)reversal, undoing or removing
Korean 비, 탈
  • 비 (bi)reversal, undoing or removing
  • 탈 (tal)reversal, undoing or removing
Latvian de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Lithuanian de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Malay nyah-, de-
  • nyah-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Norwegian Bokmål av-, de-
  • av-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Persian وا
  • وا (vâ-)reversal, undoing or removing
Polish de-, dez-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
  • dez-reversal, undoing or removing
  • roz-reversal, undoing or removing
  • od-reversal, undoing or removing
Portuguese de-, dis-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
  • dis-reversal, undoing or removing
  • des-reversal, undoing or removing
Romanian de-, des-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
  • des-reversal, undoing or removing
  • dez-reversal, undoing or removing
  • răs-intensify
  • răz-intensify
Russian де-
  • де- (de-)reversal, undoing or removing
Scottish Gaelic di-
  • di-reversal, undoing or removing
Slovak de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Spanish de-, des-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
  • des-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-intensify
Swedish av-, de-
  • av-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Tagalog hi-, de-
  • hi-reversal, undoing or removing
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Turkish de-
  • de-reversal, undoing or removing
Ukrainian де-
  • де- (de-)reversal, undoing or removing
Vietnamese phi
  • phireversal, undoing or removing
Yiddish דע־
  • דע־ (de-)reversal, undoing or removing
Cite this entry
APA

de-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de-

MLA

“de-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de-. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “de-,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de-.

Source: de- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.