n. The fourth letter of the Latin and English alphabets. It is rarely spelled out, being usually represented by the simple character. See D, 1.A French preposition, found in English only in some French phrases, as couleur de rose, or in proper names, as in Simon de Montfort, Cæur de Lion, De Vere, etc., either of Middle English origin, or modern and mere French.A Latin preposition, meaning ‘from’ or ‘of,’ occurring in certain phrases often used in English: as, de novo, anew; de facto, of fact; de jure, of right.A verb-prefix of Latin origin, expressing in Latin, and hence with modifications in modern speech, various phases of the original meaning ‘from, away from, down from.’In some words a reduced form of the original Latin prefix dis-, Latin de- and dis- being in Old French and Middle English more or less merged in form and meaning (see dis-). See defer, deface, defame, decry, etc.A form of -d, -d, or -ed, -ed in older English, as in solde, tolde, fledde, etc., now extant only in made, the (contracted) preterit and past participle of make. See -ed, -ed.