Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

1. dē, adv.: of place, down, only in the phrase susque deque, q. v.

2. dē, prep. [perh. for ded; cf. Oscan dat, old abl. of pronom. stem da; cf. also Lith. praep. da, as far as; and the suffixes, old case-forms, -dam, -dem, -dum, -do, with the locative -de; v. Ribbeck, Beitr. z. L. v. d. Lat. Part. p. 4 sq.] (with abl., denotes

  1. I. the going out, departure, removal, or separating of an object from any fixed point. Accordingly, it occupies a middle place between ab, away from, which denotes a mere external departure, and ex, out of, which signifies from the interior of a thing. Hence verbs compounded with de are constr. not only with de, but quite as freq. with ab and ex; and, on the other hand, those compounded with ab and ex often have the terminus a quo indicated by de), from, away from, down from, out of, etc.
    1. A. In space, lit. and trop. with verbs of motion: animam de corpore mitto, Enn. ap. Non. p. 150, 6 (Ann. v. 216 Vahl.): aliquo quom jam sucus de corpore cessit, Lucr. 3, 224: (quod Ariovistus) de altera parte agri Sequanos decedere juberet, to depart, withdraw from, Caes. B. G. 1, 31, 10; cf.: civitati persuasit, ut de finibus suis cum omnibus copiis exirent, id. ib. 1, 2: decedere de provincia, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 20, § 49 ( = ex provincia, id. ib. 2, 2, 65, § 147): de vita decedere, Cic. Rab. Perd. 11: exire de vita, id. Lael. 4, 15 (cf.: excedere e vita, id. ib. 3, 12): de triclinio, de cubiculo exire, id. de Or. 2, 65 fin.: hamum de cubiculo ut e navicula jacere, Plin. Ep. 9, 7, 4: de castris procedere, Sall. C. 61, 8 et saep.: brassica de capite et de oculis omnia (mala) deducet, Cato R. R. 157, 6: de digito anulum detraho, Ter. Heaut. 4, 1, 38; cf.: de matris complexu aliquem avellere atque abstrahere, Cic. Font. 17: nomen suum de tabula sustulit, id. Sest. 33, 72: ferrum de manibus extorsimus, id. Cat. 2, 1, 2: juris utilitas vel a peritis vel de libris depromi potest, id. de Or. 1, 59, 252 et saep.: … decido de lecto praeceps, Plaut. Casin. 5, 2, 50: de muro se deicere, Caes. B. C. 1, 18, 3: de sella exsilire, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 30 fin.: nec ex equo vel de muro, etc., hostem destinare, Tert. adv. Jud. 9, p. 192: de caelo aliquid demittere, Lucr. 2, 1155; cf. Cato R. R. 14, 3 et saep.
        1. b. In gen., to indicate the person or place from which any thing is taken, etc., with verbs of taking away, depriving, demanding, requesting, inquiring, buying; as capere, sumere, emere, quaerere, discere, trahere, etc., and their compounds; cf.: emere de aliquo, Cato R. R. 1, 4: aliquid mercari de aliquo, Cic. Fl. 20 et saep.: de aliquo quaerere, quid, etc., Cic. Att. 1, 14, 2: saepe hoc audivi de patre, id. de Or. 3, 33, 133; cf.: de mausoleo exaudita vox est, Suet. Ner. 46: ut sibi liceret discere id de me, Ter. Eun. 2, 2, 31; so with petere, of place (class.): de vicino terra petita solo, Ov. F. 4, 822; so of persons (late Lat.): peto de te, Dig. 36, 1, 57, § 2; Apul. M. 6, p. 179, 40.
      1. 2. To point out the place from which any thing is brought; and hence, trop., to indicate its origin, derivation, etc.: of, from: de circo astrologi, Enn. ap. Cic. Div. 1, 58; so, caupo de via Latina, Cic. Clu. 59, 163: nescio qui de circo maximo, id. Mil. 24, 65: declamator aliqui de ludo aut rabula de foro, id. Or. 15, 47: homo de schola atque a magistro … eruditus, id. de Or. 2, 7, 28: nautae de navi Alexandrina, Suet. Aug. 98: aliquis de ponte, i. e. a beggar, Juv. 14, 134: Libyca de rupe leones, Ov. F. 2, 209: nostro de rure corona, Tib. 1, 1, 15: Vaticano fragiles de monte patellas, Juv. 6, 344 al.: de summo loco Summoque genere eques, Plaut. Capt. prol. 30; cf. id. Aul. prol. 28; id. Poen. 3, 1, 13: genetrix Priami de gente vetusta, Verg. A. 9, 284; cf. id. ib. 10, 350; Stat. S. 5, 3, 126: de Numitore sati, Ov. F. 5, 41: de libris, Cic. de Or. 1, 59, 252: de Philocteta, id, ib. 3, 35, 141 (cf.: e Philocteta versus, Quint. 3, 1, 14).
      2. 3. Transf., to indicate the quarter from which motion proceeds (cf. ab), from, and because motion is so often and naturally downwards, down from: haec agebantur in conventu, palam, de sella ac de loco superiore, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 40; cf. ib. 2, 2, 38: quem ad se vocari et de tribunali citari jussit, id. ib. 2, 5, 7: qui nihil ex occulto, nihil de insidiis, agendum putant, Cic. Off. 1, 30, 109; cf. de tergo plagas dare, from behind, Plaut. Asin. 2, 2, 10; Just. 20, 5, 5: de paupere mensa dona, Tib. 1, 1, 37 et saep.
        In jurid. Latin: de plano discutere, interloqui, cognoscere, etc., i. e. on level ground, not on the tribunal (cf. χαμόθεν, opp. πρὸ βήματος, Dig. 27, 1, 13, § 10), Dig. 1, 4, 1; 1, 16, 9; 14. 3, 11 et saep.; so, de plano, off-hand, without formal consideration, Lucr. 1, 411; v. planus.
        And with pendeo, etc. (the motion in the eye transferred to the object): deque viri collo dulce pependit onus, Ov. F. 2, 760: lucerna de camera pendebat, Petr. 30, 3; cf.: et nova de gravido palmite gemma tumet, Ov. F. 1, 152: de qua pariens arbore nixa dea est, leaning downwards against the tree, id. H. 21, 100.
    2. B. In time.
      1. 1. Immediately following a given moment of time, after, directly after (very rare): de concursu, Lucr. 1, 384 (cf. Munro, ad loc.): velim scire hodiene statim de auctione aut quo die venias, Cic. Att. 12, 3: non bonus somnus est de prandio, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 8: de eorum verbis prosilui, etc., id. Trin. 1, 2, 178.
        Hence, diem de die, from day to day, day after day, Liv. 5, 48: cum is diem de die differret, dum, etc., id. 25, 25; cf.: diem de die proferendo, Just. 2, 15, 6: de die in diem, from day to day, daily (eccl. Lat.), Vulg. Psa. 60, 8; 2 Pet. 2, 8; Cypr. Ep. 3, 11.
      2. 2. De nocte, de vigilia, etc., to designate an act which begins or takes its origin from the night-time, Engl. during or in the course of the night, at night, by night, etc.: De. Rus cras cum filio Cum primo lucu ibo hinc. Mi. Imo de nocte censeo, to-night rather, Ter. Ad. 5, 3, 55: in comitium Milo de nocte venit, in the night (cf. shortly before, Milo media nocte in campum venit), Cic. Att. 4, 3, 4; cf. id. Mur. 33, 69: vigilas tu de nocte, id. ib. 9, 22; cf.: de nocte evigilabat, Suet. Vesp. 21: ut jugulent homines, surgunt de nocte latrones, at night, Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 32; and Hannibal surgere de nocte solitus, Frontin Strat. 4, 3, 7 et saep.: ut de nocte multa impigreque exsurrexi, late in the night, Plaut. Rud. 4, 2, 10; so, multa de nocte, Cic. Sest. 35, 75; id. Att. 7, 4 fin. (for which multa nocte, id. Q. Fr. 2, 9); cf. also: si de multa nocte (al. de nocte) vigilassent, id. Att. 2, 15, 2: Caesar mittit complures equitum turmas eo de media nocte, Caes. B. G. 7, 45; 7, 88; so, media de nocte, at midnight, Suet. Calig. 26; Hor. Ep. 1, 18, 91: Caesar de tertia vigilia e castris profectus, in the third night-watch, Caes. B. G. 1, 12: de tertia vigilia, id. ib. 1, 21; Liv. 9, 44 Drak.; 40, 4 al.; cf.: de quarta vigilia, Caes. B. G. 1, 21, 3 al.; v. vigilia.
        As in this manner de nocte became adverbially = nocte, so de die was sometimes used for die or per diem: de die potare, by day, in the daytime, Plaut. Asin. 4, 2, 16: epulari de die, Liv. 23, 8; Ter. Ad. 5, 9, 8; Catull. 47, 6; Suet. Calig. 37; id. Domit. 21; cf.: bibulus media de luce Falerni, Hor. Ep. 1, 14, 34; and in a lusus verbb. with in diem, Cic. Phil. 2, 34 fin.
        Less freq., de mense: navigare de mense Decembri, in December, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 1 fin.
        And once de tempore for tempore: ipse de tempore coenavit, Auct. B. Hisp. 33, 5.
    3. C. In other relations, implying separation, departure from, etc.
      1. 1. To designate the whole, from which a part is taken, or of which a part is separately regarded, etc., from among, out of, from: hominem certum misi de comitibus meis, Cic. Att. 8, 1, 2: gladio percussus ab uno de illis, id. Mil. 24, 65: si quis de nostris hominibus, id. Flacc. 4: quemvis de iis qui essent idonei, id. Div. in Caecil. 4 fin.: de tribus et decem fundis tres nobilissimi fundi, id. Rosc. Am. 35, 99 et saep.: accusator de plebe, id. Brut. 34, 131: pulsare minimum de plebe Quiritem, Ov. Am. 1, 7, 29; cf. Liv. 7, 17: malus poëta de populo, Cic. Arch. 10, 25 et saep.: partem solido demere de die, Hor. Od. 1, 1, 20: quantum de vita perdiderit, Petr. 26: praeteriine tuas de tot caelestibus aras, Ov. Her. 21, 179; Juv. 1, 138.
        1. b. Sometimes de with abl. takes the place of the gen. partit. or gen. obj. In the best writers this occurs mainly
          1. (α) to avoid ambiguity where genitives would be multiplied: ne expers partis esset de nostris bonis, Ter. Heaut. 4, 1, 39: ut aliquem partem de istius impudentia reticere possim, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 12, § 32;
          2. (β) for greater precision: si quae sunt de eodem genere, id. Tusc. 4, 7, 16: persona de mimo, id. Phil. 2, 27, 65;
          3. (γ) in the poets, metri gratiā: aliquid de more vetusto, Ov. F. 6, 309; Grat. Cyneg. 17: laudes de Caesare, Ov. Pont. 4, 13, 23: cetera de genere hoc, Hor. Sat. 1, 1, 13; Lucr. 4, 746. This circumlocution was freq. in comic writers and in vulgar lang., and became more common in the declining periods of the lang., so that in the Romance tongues de, di, etc., with a case represent the earlier genitive (so, conscius, conscientia, meminisse, mentionem facere, recordari, etc., de aliqua re for alicujus rei, v. h. vv.).
      2. 2. To indicate the property from which the costs of any thing are taken: obsonat, potat, olet unguenta de meo, Ter. Ad. 1, 2, 37; so, de tuo, Plaut. Bac. 1, 1, 65: de suo, Cic. Att. 16, 16, A, 5; Suet. Caes. 19: de nostro, Plaut. Truc. 1, 2, 11: de vestro, Liv. 6, 15, 10; cf.: de vestris, Ov. F. 3, 828: de alieno, Liv. 3, 1, 3; Just. 36, 3 fin.: de publico, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 44; Liv. 1, 20; 2, 16; 4, 60. For de tuo, once de te: de te largitor puer, Ter. Ad. 5, 8, 17.
        Also in a trop. sense: ad tua praecepta de meo nihil his novum apposivi, Plaut. Mil. 3, 3, 31; cf. id. Men. 1. 2, 40; Cic. Fam. 4, 3; Plin. Ep. 4, 13, 8.
        Poet., to denote that out of which, or by which, one pays a penalty or suffers punishment: has vestro de sanguine poenas datis, Luc. 4, 805; cf.: cum de visceribus tuis satisfacturus sis quibus debes, Cic. Q. Frat. 1, 3, 7.
      3. 3. To designate the material of which any thing is made, of, out of, from: niveo factum de marmore signum, Ov. M. 14, 313; cf. Verg. G. 3, 13: verno de flore corona, Tib. 2, 1, 59: sucus de quinquefolio, Plin. 26, 4, 11: cinis de fico, Pall. 1, 35, 3 et saep.: de templo carcerem fleri, Cic. Phil. 5, 7; cf. Flor. 2, 6, 32: captivum de rege facturi, Just. 7, 2, 11; cf.: inque deum de bove versus erat, Ov. F. 5, 616 et saep.: fles de rhetore consul, Juv. 7, 197.
        Cf. trop. by means of: de eodem oleo et opera exaravi nescio quid ad te, Cic. Att. 13, 38.
        Prov.: de nihilo nihilum, Pers. 3, 84; cf. Lucr. 1, 157 sq.
      4. 4. In mental operations, to indicate the subject-matter or theme on which any mental act (thinking, considering, advising, determining, etc.; discoursing, informing, exhorting, deciding, disputing, doubting, etc.) is founded; of, about, concerning, Gr. περί: cogitare de aliqua re, etc. (the most common signification): multa narrare de Laelio, Cic. Lael. 1, 1: dubitare de re, id. Fam. 3, 10, 15: de suo adventu docere, Suet. Caes. 9: de moribus admonere, Sall. Cat. 5, 9 et saep.
        With this, too, is connected its use,
      5. 5. To indicate the producing cause or reason, for, on account of, because of: nam id nisi gravi de causa non fecisset, Cic. Att. 7, 7, 3; cf. id. de Or. 1, 41, 186; Cael ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 15; Cic. Att. 11, 3: de quo nomine ad arbitrum adiisti, de eo ad judicium venisti, id. Rosc. Com. 4, 12: flebat uterque non de suo supplicio, sed pater de filii morte, de patris filius, id. Verr. 2, 1, 30, § 76: de labore pectus tundit, with pain, Plaut. Casin. 2, 6, 63: incessit passu de vulnere tardo, Ov. M. 10, 49: humus fervet de corpore, id. ib. 7, 560: facilius de odio creditur, Tac. H. 1, 34: quod erat de me feliciter Ilia mater, through me, Ov. F. 3, 233 et saep.
      6. 6. To indicate the thing with reference to which any thing is done, with respect to, concerning: de istac re in oculum utrumvis conquiescito, Plaut. Ps. 1, 1, 121: nil peccat de savio, Caec. ap. Gell. 2, 23, 11 (v. 161 Ribbeck): credere de numero militum, Cic. Att. 9, 1, 2: de numero dierum fidem servare, Caes. B. G. 6, 36; Sall. C. 50, 3: de ceteris senatui curae fore, id. Jug. 26, 1: concessum ab nobilitate de consule plebeio, Liv. 6, 42: solem de virgine rapta consule, Ov. F. 4, 581 et saep.
        Ellipt.: de argento somnium, as for the money, Ter. Ad. 2, 1, 50 (for which id. Heaut. 4, 2, 4: quod de argento sperem, nihil est): Varr. R. R. 1, 59, 1: de Dionysio sum admiratus, Cic. Att. 9, 12; id. Off. 1, 15, 47: de me autem suscipe paullisper meas partes, id. Fam. 3, 12, 2; Ter. Hec. 2, 1, 36 et saep.: de Samnitibus triumphare, concerning, over, Cic. Sen. 16, 55; cf. Hor. 4, 2, 88: de Atheniensibus victoria, Curt. 8, 1, 33.
      7. 7. To indicate the thing in conformity with which any thing is done, according to, after: secundum: DE SENATVOS SENTENTIAD, S. C. de Bac.: fecisse dicas de mea sententia, Plaut. Bac. 4, 9, 115; cf.: de suorum propinquorum sententia atque auctoritate fecisse dicatur, Cic. Cael. 29: de consilii sententia Mamertinis se frumentum non imperare pronunciat, id. Verr. 2, 5, 21 al.: de ejus consilio velle sese facere, Ter. Ph. 3, 1, 17: vix de mea voluntate concessum est, Cic. Att. 4, 2, 4: de exemplo meo ipse aedificato, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 86: de more vetusto, Verg. A. 11, 142; Ov. M. 7, 606: de nomine, id. ib. 1, 447: patrioque vocat de nomine mensem, id. F. 3, 77.
      8. 8. With adjectives to form adverbial expressions.
        1. a. De integro, anew ( = ab integro, ex integro; cf.: iterum, rursus, denuo), indidemque eadem aeque oriuntur de integro, atque eodem occidunt, Pac. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, § 17 Müll. (v. 92 Ribb.): ratio de integro ineunda est mihi, Ter. Heaut. 4, 2, 7; Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 56; id. Att. 13, 27; id. Fam. 12, 30, 2 et saep. (The combination de novo appears only in the contracted form denuo, v. h. v.).
        2. b. De improviso, unexpectedly: ubi de improviso interventum est mulieri, Ter. Heaut. 2, 3, 40; id. And. 2, 2, 23; id. Ad. 3, 3, 53; Caes. B. G. 2, 3; 5, 22; 5, 39 et saep.; Cic. Rosc. Am. 52, 151 et saep.
        3. c. De transverso, unexpectedly: ecce autem de transverso L. Caesar ut veniam ad se rogat, Cic. Att. 15, 4 fin.; Auct. Her. 4, 10, 14.
          Note: De is often put between an adj. or pron. and its substantive; cf. above multa de nocte, media de nocte, gravi de causa, etc.: qua de re, Ter. Andr. 1, 2, 13; esp. in the judic. formula: qua de re agitur; cf. Varr. R. R. 2, 2, 6; Cic. Brut. 79 fin. Also freq. after a simple relative: quo de, Cic. Inv. 1, 28, 41; 54, 104; 2, 11, 37: qua de, id. ib. 2, 23, 70 et saep.
  2. II. In composition the e becomes short before a vowel, as in dĕhisco, dĕhinc, dĕorsum, and coincides with it in the poets by synaeresis; cf.: dehinc, deinde, deinceps, deorsum; sometimes contraction takes place, as in debeo, debilis, dego, demo, from dehabeo, de-habilis, de-ago, de-emo.
      1. 2. Signif.
        1. a. Separation, departure, removal, taking away; off, away, down, out: decedo, demigro, demeto, depromo, descendo, devolvo, derivo, deflecto, etc.; and trop. dedico, denuntio; and in a downward direction, decido, decumbo, deprimo, demergo, delabor, defluo, demitto, desido, desideo, declivis, deculco, degredior, deicio, etc.
        2. b. Cessation, removal of the fundamental idea ( = un-, de-, dis-): dearmo, deartuo, decresco, dedisco, dedecoro, dedignor, dedoceo, denascor, denormo, desum, etc.; and hence direct negation, as in dedecet, deformis, demens, etc.
        3. c. With reference to the terminus of the action: defero, defigo, demitto, etc.; hence also trop., with reference to the extent of the action, to the uttermost, to exhaustion, through. out: debacchor, debello, dedolo, delino, delibuo, etc.: defatigo, delaboro, delasso, etc.; hence freq. a mere strengthening of the fundamental idea, = valde, thoroughly, much: demiror, demitigo, etc.
        4. d. Giving a bad sense to the verb: decipio, delinquo, deludo, derideo, detestor.
        5. e. Rarely, contraction from a broad into a narrow space, together: deligo, devincio. See also Hand Turs. II. p. 183-229.