Where does “de-” come from?
de- (French) comes from Middle French dés-, from Latin dē-, from Latin dē, from Latin post, from Latin poste, from Proto-Italic posti, from Proto-Indo-European pósti, from Proto-Indo-European pós — afterwards, post; by, at.
de- (French): used to make antonyms
Ancestry of “de-”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle French | dés- | — |
| 2 | Latin | dē- | — |
| 3 | Latin | dē | — |
| 4 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 5 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | posti | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |