De

See also: Appendix:Variations of "de"

English

Etymology 1

English Wikipedia has an article on:

De Prefecture

Wikipedia

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 德 (Dé).

Pronunciation

enPR: dŭ^[1]

Proper noun

De

(historical) A former prefecture of imperial China around Dezhou in northwestern Shandong.

Alternative forms

Te, Tê

Translations

Chinese:
Mandarin: 德州 (zh) (Dézhōu)

References

^ cf. Seltzer, Leon E., editor (1952), “Tehchow or Te-chou”, in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, Morningside Heights, NY: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 1888, column 1

Etymology 2

From Bengali [Term?].

Proper noun

De

A surname from India

Anagrams

ed, Ed, E.D., Ed., ED, ed-, -èd, -ed, ed., @ed

Danish

Etymology

Derived from the third-person plural pronoun de. Calque of German Sie.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [d̥i]

Pronoun

De (second-person singular nominative, accusative Dem, genitive Deres)

(personal, formal) The formal counterpart to du, you.

Usage notes

Usage of De in Danish has gotten increasingly more rare after the 1970s (with du often being used in place of De), but De still appears occasionally from time to time (such as in Danish-language translations from other languages).

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

Dis og dus

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

PIE word
*só

A polite use of de (“they”); semantic loan from German Sie (“you; polite form of address”).

The underlying pronoun is inherited from Old Norse þeir (“they”), from Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ), from Proto-Germanic *þai, from Proto-Indo-European *tóy, the masculine nominative plural of *só (“this; that”).

Compare Danish De (“you; polite form of address”). The underlying third-person pronoun is cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk dei, Danish de, Swedish de, Icelandic þeir, Faroese teir, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹 (þai, “they”) and English they.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /diː/, [diː]
(unstressed) IPA^(key): /di/, [di]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -iː
Homophones: de, di
Hyphenation: De

Pronoun

De (objective Dem, possessive Deres)

(formal) you; the polite second-person singular subject pronoun, also used to address a business as a single entity.
Ønsker De kaffe eller te, fru Berg? ― Would you like coffee or tea, Mrs Berg?

Kan De hjelpe meg? ― Can you help me?
- 1848, Conrad N. Schwach, Erindringer af mit Liv indtil Ankomsten til Throndhjem (1830): nedskrevne i Aaret 1848‎^[1], manuscript:
  da vi vare blevne uvenner, bleve vi enige om ikke mere sige du men I til hinanden […] Da vi mødtes igjen i Norge, sagde vi De til hinanden
  When we had fallen out, we agreed no longer to address each other as du, but as I. […] When we met again in Norway, we addressed each other as De.
  (quoted in NAOB)
- 1873, Arne Garborg, Mogning og manndom: brev, volume I, published 1954, page 25:
  jeg kan ikke beskrive Dem, hvor glad jeg er ved at vide, at De har følt Dem opmuntret og styrket
  I cannot tell you how glad I am to know that you have felt encouraged and strengthened.
- 1891, Alexander L. Kielland, chapter VIII, in Jacob‎^[2], page 99:
  Men, Hr. Jessen! – er De bleven gal?
  But, Mr Jessen! Have you gone mad?
- 1892, Henrik Ibsen, Bygmester Solness‎^[3], act 2, page 131:
  Sæt De Dem nu bare ned igen, Hilde. Så skal De få høre løjer.
  Just sit down again, Hilde. Then you shall hear something amusing.
- 1911, Amalie Pettersen, Pettersens, page 181:
  bli’ Medlem, De Maren, det kan være lærerigt for Dem ogsaa
  Become a member, Maren; it could be instructive for you too.
- 1917, Halfdan Kjerulf, Halfdan Kjerulf: av hans efterlatte papirer, volume I, 1831–1847, page 254:
  Ogsaa jeg generes ved at sige De til en saadan Ven.
  I too feel awkward addressing such a friend as De.
- 1918, Gunnar Heiberg, Samlede dramatiske verker, volume III, page 38:
  er De fornøiet nu, Ella?
  Are you satisfied now, Ella?
- 1918, Gunnar Heiberg, Samlede dramatiske verker, volume III, page 172:
  tro De paa mig som jeg har trodd paa Dem
  Believe in me as I have believed in you.
- 1918, Gunnar Heiberg, Samlede dramatiske verker, volume III, page 239:
  De har vist Dem min tillid værdig
  You have proved yourself worthy of my trust.
- 1983 April 22, Aftenposten, number 181, page 3, column 2:
  det er noen personer det er naturlig å si De til
  There are some people whom it feels natural to address as De.
- 1987, Dag Solstad, Roman 1987, page 137:
  professorer […] som titulerte sine studenter med De […]
  professors […] who addressed their students as De […]
- 2015, Øystein Dolmen, Gustav Lorentzen, “Det Store Dyrets dansevise”, in Knutsen & Ludvigsen. Alle sangene, page 83:
  […] «Har De lyst til å danse?»
  […] “Would you like to dance?”
(formal, rare) you; the polite second-person plural subject pronoun, used to address several people.
Mine damer og herrer, De er hjertelig velkomne. ― Ladies and gentlemen, you are most welcome.
- 1874, Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt‎^[4], 3rd edition, act 4, page 135:
  Gå De til Hellas. Jeg skal sende
  Dem gratis væbnede iland.
  Go to Greece. I shall put you ashore there armed and free of charge.

Usage notes

De is always capitalized, together with its object form Dem and possessive Deres. These polite forms are distinct from third-person de, dem and deres.
De is much less common than formerly. It can express particular courtesy or social distance. Du, deg and din are neutral in contemporary usage, including official communication. Modern guidance recommends dere when addressing several people.^[1]
Dem also serves as the reflexive form: Sett Dem ned (“Sit down”), De må passe på Dem selv (“You must take care of yourself”). The corresponding possessive is Deres, including when it refers back to the subject: Har De glemt hatten Deres? (“Have you forgotten your hat?”).

Derived terms

De-form (“polite form of address”)
dis (“on formal terms”)
dise (“to address someone as De”) (rare)

References

^ “Høflighetsformene De, Dem og Deres”, Språkrådet.

“de” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
“de” in Norwegian Academy Dictionary (NAOB).

Anagrams

de, ed

Old Irish

Proper noun

De

alternative spelling of Dé

Mutation

Mutation of De
radical	lenition	nasalization
De	De pronounced with /ðʲ-/	nDe

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

[seltzer-1] cf. Seltzer, Leon E., editor (1952), “Tehchow or Te-chou”, in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, Morningside Heights, NY: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 1888, column 1

[2] “Høflighetsformene De, Dem og Deres”, Språkrådet.

[1]

[1]

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
	Second	modern / informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
	Second	formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
		common (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		indefinite	man	en	ens
		reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
	First	archaic / formal	vi	os	vor	vort	vore
	Second	–	I	jer	jeres
	Third	–	de	dem	deres
	Third	reflexive	–	sig	deres

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	meg	min	mi	mitt	mine
	Second	general	du	deg	din	di	ditt	dine
	Second	formal (rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham / han	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	henne	hennes
		masculine (noun)	den		dens
		feminine (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		reflexive	–	seg	sin	si	sitt	sine
Plural	First	–	vi	oss	vår		vårt	våre
	Second	general	dere		deres
	Second	formal (very rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	general	de	dem	deres
	Third	reflexive	–	seg	sin	si	sitt	sine