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D - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary


Character variations

Etruscan 𐌃 (D), the source for Latin D

From the Etruscan letter 𐌃 (d, “de”), from the Ancient Greek letter Δ (D, “delta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤃 (d, “dalet”), from an uncertain origin, likely the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉿.

D (lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

A simplification of Ꟈ under the graphic influence of the letter D, from a standardization of Ɔ superposed on a ⋀ or ⊢, from the practice of circling each hundredth ⋀ (now Roman numeral V), the tally stick notch mark representing five.

D (upper case Roman numeral, lower case d)

  1. (Roman numerals) Five hundred (500).
  2. the five hundredth (500th)

D

  2. (chemistry) deuterium (when it needs to be distinguished from ordinary hydrogen (protium) (but this symbol is deprecated by IUPAC in favor of ²H))
    Synonyms: H-2, ²H
    Hypernym: H
    Coordinate terms: H-1, ¹H; H-3, ³H, T; H-4, ⁴H, Q
  4. (mathematics, computing, hexadecimal symbol) thirteen
    Synonyms: 13 (base ten), XIII (Roman numerals)
  6. A standard size of dry cell battery larger than C
  8. (vehicle-distinguishing symbol) Germany
  10. (biochemistry, IUPAC 1-letter symbol) aspartic acid
    Synonym: Asp
  11. (music) The major chord with a root of D.
  12. (mathematics) The differential operator in calculus and analysis
  13. (linguistics) wildcard for an alveolar consonant
  14. (finance) Long-term bond credit rating by Moody's Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, indicating that a bond is in default, and the issuer is (or is about to become) bankrupt.
  15. (actuarial notation) arithmetically decreasing payments
  16. denier (unit)
  17. (clothing) bra cup size
  • Letter styles

  • Uppercase and lowercase versions of D, in normal and italic type

    Uppercase and lowercase versions of D, in normal and italic type

  • Uppercase and lowercase D in Fraktur

    Uppercase and lowercase D in Fraktur

Other representations of D:

From Old English D, a 7th century replacement by Latin upper case letter D of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᛞ (d, “daeg”).

D (upper case, lower case d, plural Ds or D's)

  1. The fourth letter of the English alphabet, called dee and written in the Latin script.

    • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

      Boxer could not get beyond the letter D. He would trace out A, B, C, D, in the dust with his great hoof […]

D (upper case, lower case d, plural Ds or D's)

  1. The fourth numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called dee and written in the Latin script.

Abbreviations.

D (countable and uncountable, plural Ds)

  1. Abbreviation of defense. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  2. (US politics) Abbreviation of Democrat, especially preceding the constituent location.
    Antonym: R (“Republican”)

    D-New York

    • 2021 November 5, Chris Cillizza, “Even Democrats are now admitting ‘Defund the Police’ was a massive mistake”, in CNN‎[1]:

      “I think allowing this moniker, ‘Defund the police,’ to ever get out there, was not a good thing,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) told The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel on Thursday.

  4. (automotive) Abbreviation of drive, the setting of an automatic transmission.
    Coordinate terms: P, R, N, D, 2, 1
  5. (printing) Abbreviation of duodecimo, as adopted by the American Library Association.
  6. (euphemistic, slang) Clipping of dick (“penis”)

    She wants the D!

  7. (electronics) Abbreviation of data.
  8. (Unicode) Canonical decomposition
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  9. (music) Abbreviation of Deutsch number in the Schubert Thematic Catalogue.
    Coordinate term: K (“Köchel number”)

    Symphony No. 4 Tragic D 417

  10. (slang) Alternative form of dee (“a police detective”).

    • 2022 October 31, “Doomsday” (track 7, 1:53 from the start), in Kay Flock (lyrics), F L O C K A‎[2]:

      Dotty my holster, totin on this knocker (Grrah, grrah)
      If we see the Ds, bitch, move proper

D

  1. Abbreviation of down (direction).

D

  1. Abbreviation of divorced.

D

  1. (with “The”) The City of Detroit.
  2. (religion) Abbreviation of Deuteronomist.

D

  1. (euphemistic) Damn.

From the shape of the upper case letter "D".

D (plural Ds)

  1. (snooker) The semicircle on the baulk line, inside which the cue ball must be placed at a break-off.
  2. (soccer) The penalty arc on a football pitch.

    • 2022 June 11, Ben Fisher, “Brennan Johnson’s late goal denies Belgium and extends the Wales party”, in The Guardian‎[3]:

      Johnson, a late substitute, applied the finishing touch but it was move kickstarted by the again-impressive Neco Williams, who skedaddled forward from halfway with the ball in tow before feeding Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the D.

    • 2025 November 8, Scott Murray, “Sunderland v Arsenal: Premier League – live”, in The Guardian‎[4]:

      23 min: Fee gets overly intricate near his own D, and gifts the ball to Eze, who attempts a curler towards the top-left corner but gets it all wrong.

  3. (field hockey) The penalty arc on a hockey field.

From the position (4) of the letter D in the English alphabet.

D (plural Ds)

  2. (education, chiefly Canada, US) A grade awarded for a class, better than outright failure (which can be F or E depending on the institution) and worse than a C.

D

  1. (computer languages) A programming language inspired from C++.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The tenth letter of the Afar alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /dɪə/

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (plural D's, diminutive D'tjie)

  1. D

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fifth letter of the Standard Albanian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  2. The seventh letter of the Arvanitic Albanian alphabet, written in the Greek script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The twenty-fourth letter of the Angami alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  • (phoneme) IPA(key): [d]
  • (letter name) IPA(key): [deː], [dɯː]

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fifth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Basque alphabet, called de and written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Catalan alphabet, called de and written in the Latin script.
  • /d/ is from West Germanic *d and *þ, in Ripuarian and northernmost Moselle Franconian also from geminated *dd (but not *þþ).

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. A letter of the Central Franconian alphabet (German-based), written in the Latin script.
  2. A letter of the Central Franconian alphabet (Dutch-based), written in the Latin script.

Doubling of D and use in the syllable coda

  • In the German-based spelling, d is doubled after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem. In the syllable coda, the choice between d and t may be based on internal analogy, but more often follows the German cognate.
  • In the Dutch-based spelling, d is doubled after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open. In the syllable coda, internal analogy prevails.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. A letter of the Central Mazahua alphabet, written in the Latin script.

For pronunciation and definitions of D – see 啲 (“a few; a little bit; some; a bit; a bit more; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 啲).

D

  1. (Internet slang) to DDOS

From English disco.

D

  1. (Cantonese) disco

From Japanese DD(ディーディー) (dīdī).

D

  1. (Internet slang, neologism, ACG, often offensive) to like (a VTuber)
Cantonese dok1
Spelling pronunciation in Hong Kong, derived from English dog.

Note: dok1 - Hong Kong.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Latin alphabet as used in Chinese, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of Pinyin, written in the Latin script.
  • 《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
  • The pronunciations above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other contexts (such as English).

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Czech alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D

  1. (chess) abbreviation of dronning (“queen”)
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /deː/

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D

  1. (chess) abbreviation of dame (“queen”)
  • ᚦ, D (Dalecarlian runes)

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Elfdalian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  • IPA(key): /d/
  • (phoneme): ; before a voiceless consonant,

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fifth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called do and written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called dee and written in the Latin script.

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and D for information on the development of the glyph itself.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called dee and written in the Latin script.
  • Used only in loanwords except for the weak grade of t.

D

  1. alternative letter-case form of d (“D (musical note)”)

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D

  1. (chess) abbreviation of dame (“queen”): Q

    • 2023 April, “Les règles du jeu d’échecs 2023”, in FIDE‎[5], page 17:

      1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cf6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Ce4 5.Dxd4 d5 6.exd6e.p. Cxd6 7. Fg5 Cc6 8.De3+ Fe7 9.Cbd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Te8 11.Rb1 (=)

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

D n (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the German alphabet, called de and written in the Latin script.

D

  1. (chess) abbreviation of Dame (“queen”): Q

    • 2023 April, “Übersetzung der FIDE-Schachregeln gültig ab 1. Januar 2023”, in FIDE‎[6], page 25:

      1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 Sf6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Se4 5.Dxd4 d5 6.exd6 e.p. Sxd6 7.Lg5 Sc6 8.De3 + Le7 9.Sbd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Te8 11.Kb1 (=)

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. A letter of the Heiltsuk alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Compass rose

Abbreviation of dél (“south”).

D (plural D-ek)

  1. s. (south)

The declined forms below are used only in writing. When speaking, the declined forms of the full word should be used, as shown at dél.

compass points: égtájak:  [edit]

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): [ˈd]
  • (letter name): IPA(key): [ˈdeː]

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called dé and written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

From the Latin - letter D, from the Etruscan letter 𐌃 (d, “de”), from the Ancient Greek letter Δ (D, “delta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤃 (d, “dalet”), from an uncertain origin, likely the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉿.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case Roman numeral, lower case d)

  1. D:
    1. (Roman numerals) five hundred (500)
    2. the five hundredth (500th)

From the position (4) of the letter D in the alphabet.

D (plural D-D)

  2. (education) D: A grade awarded for a class, better than outright failure (which can be F or E depending on the institution) and worse than a C
  3. (vehicle-distinguishing signs) vehicle number plate code for the Bandung areas

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Irish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Isoko alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  • E. O. Agbada et al, Vbuhrẹ Ụmụ́bọrá Isoko (Teach Yourself Isoko), first published 2008, revised edition 2017, pages 8, 10
  • Onyerioma Isaac Itegolor, Isoko Wha Dooo...! Book 2 (Operation Speak Your Language), Revised Standard Edition (2015), page 1
  • Joe Okedi, Abidi Isoko Na Kpobi, 2020

D f or m (upper case, lower case d, invariable)

  1. The fourth letter of the Italian alphabet, called di and written in the Latin script.

D

  1. (chess) abbreviation of donna (“queen”)

Borrowed from Tagalog D. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English D.

  • (letter name) IPA(key): /di/ [di̞]
    • Rhymes: -i
  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /d/ [d̚]

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called di and written in the Latin script.
  • Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016), Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎[7] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and D for development of the glyph itself.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. A letter of the Latin alphabet, written in the Latin script, representing the sound /d/.

D

  1. A digit 500 in the decimal Roman numeral system.

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

D

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called dē and written in the Latin script.
  • (name of letter) IPA(key): [di]
  • (phoneme, syllable-initial) IPA(key): [d]
  • (phoneme, syllable-final) IPA(key): [t̚]

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. A letter of the Old English alphabet, written in the Latin script.

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and D for development of the glyph itself.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Polish alphabet, called de and written in the Latin script.

D m (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D m (uncountable)

  1. abbreviation of dom (as a title)

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called de or dî and written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The eighth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Scottish Gaelic alphabet, written in the Latin script; preceded by C and followed by E; traditionally named dair (“oak”).

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and D for development of the glyph itself.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The eighth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

From Gaj's Latin alphabet D, from Czech alphabet D, from Latin D, from the Etruscan letter 𐌃 (d, “de”), from the Ancient Greek letter Δ (D, “delta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤃 (d, “dalet”), from an uncertain origin, likely the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉿.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fifth letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  2. The seventh letter of the Slovene alphabet (Resian), written in the Latin script.
  3. The fifth letter of the Slovene alphabet (Natisone Valley dialect), written in the Latin script.

D m inan

  1. The name of the Latin script letter D / d.
  • Overall more common
Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing. D
gen. sing. D-ja
singular dual plural
nominative
(imenovȃlnik) 		D D-ja D-ji
genitive
(rodȋlnik) 		D-ja D-jev D-jev
dative
(dajȃlnik) 		D-ju D-jema D-jem
accusative
(tožȋlnik) 		D D-ja D-je
locative
(mẹ̑stnik) 		D-ju D-jih D-jih
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik) 		D-jem D-jema D-ji
  • More common when with a definite adjective
Masculine inan., no endings
nom. sing. D
gen. sing. D
singular dual plural
nominative D D D
accusative D D D
genitive D D D
dative D D D
locative D D D
instrumental D D D
  • “D”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The seventh letter of the Somali alphabet, called deel and written in the Latin script; preceded by KH and followed by R.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

D

  1. (chess) abbreviation of dama (“queen”): Q

    • 2023 April, “Leyes Del Ajedrez 2023”, in FIDE‎[8], page 27:

      1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cf6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Ce4 5.Dxd4 d5 6.exd6 a.p. Cxd6; 7.Ag5 Cc68.De3+ Ae7 9.Cbd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Te8 11.Rb1(=).

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Swedish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Borrowed from Spanish D. Each pronunciation has a different source:

  • Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English D.
  • Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish D.
  • Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜇ (da).
  • (Standard Tagalog)
    • IPA(key): /ˈdi/ [ˈd̪ɪ] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
      • Rhymes: -i
    • IPA(key): /ˈde/ [ˈd̪ɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
      • Rhymes: -e
    • IPA(key): /ˈda/ [ˈd̪a] (letter name, Abakada alphabet)
      • Rhymes: -a
    • IPA(key): /d/ [d̪] (phoneme)

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. the fourth letter of the Filipino alphabet, called di and written in the Latin script
  2. the fourth letter of the Abakada alphabet, called da and written in the Latin script
  3. (historical) the fifth letter of the Abecedario, called de and written in the Latin script
  • Sometimes switched with the letter ⟨R⟩ between vowels, ⟨W⟩, or ⟨Y⟩ in a word due to lenition of /d/ to /ɾ/ such as dadaan can become daraan. Compare flapping in pronunciation of English medal. The letter does not change if the next consonant is an /ɾ/ (such as madurog does not become marurog) or /l/ (such as madilim does not become marilim).
  • Some words starting with the letter can also become ⟨R⟩ if the last letter of the preceding word is a vowel, ⟨W⟩, or ⟨Y⟩. Examples are daw / raw, dito / rito, dami / rami, and damot / ramot.
  • On all cases stated above, it is acceptable whether ⟨D⟩ or ⟨R⟩ is used. However, the said phenomena do not occur on proper nouns nor recent loan words.
  • In the Teresa-Morong dialect, the letter R may interchange with the letter on any position in the word even when not followed by a vowel, ⟨w⟩, or ⟨y⟩. (ex. ragat / dagat and bayar / bayad). Exceptions are recent loanwords, or if the next consonant after a /d/ is /ɾ/ (such as in durog) or /l/ (such as in dila).
  • Often switched with the letter ⟨r⟩ on non-initial positions in early texts which may indicate ancient pronunciation of words.
  • “D”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fifth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called de and written in the Latin script.
  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ze˧˧], [ʔɗe˧˧], [zəː˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [jej˧˧], [ʔɗej˧˧], [jəː˦˩]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [jej˧˧], [ʔɗej˧˧], [jəː˨˩]
  • Phonetic spelling: dê, đê, dờ

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The sixth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called dê, đê or dờ and written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fifth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called di and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by Ch and followed by Dd.
  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “D”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The third letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called dí and written in the Latin script.

D (upper case, lower case d)

  1. The fourth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.