de

Forms

dē (+ ablative)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dē (“from”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ (“towards”), formed from *de (“to, towards”) with an instrumental suffix.^[1] The same element is in the suffixes of quondam, inde and quandō.^[1][2]

Cognate with Oscan dat and Old Irish di.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables;^[4] the OLD's first citation is from Livius Andronicus' Odyssey, where someone wipes the tears dē ōre “from the face”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is movement down from or away from a place, beside ab “away from” and ex “out of”.^[3][2] From this came the point from which something starts (in time, dē diē “from early in the day”, dē prandiō “right after lunch”), the person from whom something is taken or the people over whom a victory is won, the source and the material, the whole of which a part is taken, cause, and conformity (“after, according to”).^[3] It also came to mean “about, concerning”.^[3]

In British Medieval Latin it was used more widely than in Classical Latin, like French de, often instead of a plain ablative or genitive.^[5] As a prefix dē- adds the senses “down”, “away”, “undoing” or “completely”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^[4]
• c. 280–200 BC – Livius Andronicus: dacrimās dē ōre … dētersit.^[3][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus asks what to do dē concubīnā, about a concubine.^[3][4]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with ablative) from, away from, down from, off.^[3][2]
2. From (a time); immediately after: diem dē diē, day after day.^[3]
3. From, out of (the possession of); over (people defeated).^[3][1]
4. From, at the expense of (a fund or resource).^[3]
5. Of (a material); of, from among (a whole).^[3]
6. about, concerning.^[3][2]
7. Because of, on account of.^[3]
8. After, according to (a model or precept).^[3]

Word family

• dē-
• dēmum
• dēnique
• dēterior
• dēsub

Related words

• ab
• ex
• susque dēque

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press