de-

prefix

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- From Latin dē-, from the preposition dē (“of”, “from”). For sense development, compare Old English æf-, which was a similar prefix.

1. reversal, undoing

   “de- + couple → decouple”

   “de- + align → dealign”

2. to remove from, removed

   “de- + bus → debus”

   “de- + bark → debark”

3. Intensifying

   “de- + fraud → defraud”

   “de- + complex → decomplex”

4. derived from, of

   “de- + substantival → desubstantival”

   “de- + verbal → deverbal”

5. down, downward

   “de- + scando → descend”

   “de- + press → depress”