de-

(Latin: from, away from, off; down; wholly, entirely, utterly, complete; reverse the action of, undo; the negation or reversal of the notion expressed in the primary or root word)

dementophobia (s) (noun), dementophobias (pl)
A fear of being or going insane: Those who suffer from dementophobia are afraid that they are losing contact with reality, members of their families, or friends.

Another reason someone might have dementophobia is because he or she has severe depressions, headaches, dizziness, or difficulty breathing.

demerit (s) (noun), demerits (pl)
1. A quality or characteristic deserving of blame or censure; a fault.
2. Absence of merit; the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection.
3. A mark made against a person's record for a fault or for misconduct: The soldier received a demerit for his failure to do his assignment as ordered.
demilitarize (verb), demilitarizes; demilitarized; demilitarizing
1. To remove or prohibit the presence of soldiers, weapons, and military installations in an area after an agreement has been made to stop military operations: In accordance between the two countries, acceptance of withdrawing all armed forces to demilitarize the region was quickly acted upon during the following months.
2. To eliminate the military character of a zone: All buildings and housing of the soldiers were removed to demilitarize the area.
3. To prohibit military forces or installations in an area: In order to demilitarize the section of the city, all bases, camps, headquarters, etc. of the armed forces were forbidden.
4. To replace military control with civilian control: To demilitarize the area, the politicians agreed on removing all armed forces and power in the area and having the city return to a normal civil life of people not connected with armed forces and services.
demineralization
1. The act or process of removing minerals or mineral salts from a liquid; such as, water.
2. The loss, deprivation, or removal of minerals or mineral salts from the body; especially, through disease, as with the loss of calcium from bones or teeth.
3. Excessive elimination of mineral or inorganic salts; as in, pulmonary tuberculosis, cancer, and osteomalacia.
demineralize (verb), demineralizes; demineralized; demineralizing
To remove minerals or mineral salts from something, such as from a bone or a liquid: To demineralize water is done to ensure the quality and consistency of various products, as well as to ensure consistent and predictable functions of sensitive equipment.

To demineralize or to withdraw and remove the mineral content of the fluid was important for more efficient applications in the clinic.

demise (s) (noun), demises (pl)
1. Death; the end of existence or activity; a termination: Tom's town has not had any local news coverage since the local newspaper's demise last year.
2. In law, the transfer of an estate by lease or will: James, the landlord, demised his property to his son, including his control over it.
3. The transfer of a ruler's authority by death or abdication: The crown was demised to the queen's heir, the prince, after she died.
4. Etymology: from about 1442, from Middle French (c.1400 to c.1600) demise, past participle of demettre, "to dismiss, to put away"; from des-, "away" (from Latin dis-) + Middle French mettre "to put"; from Latin mittere "to let go, to send".

It originally meant "the transfer of an estate by [means of a] will"; and the meaning was extended in 1754 to "death" because that's when the transfer happened.

The demise of "Dear"

Here is a change in common usage that offers a linguistic clue to a cultural change which has resulted from electronic mail (e-mail) usage.

This presentation is about the threatened abandonment of the symbolic embrace inherent in an old Teutonic word: Dear! The application of "Dear" came into existence about a thousand years ago meaning "honorable, worthy", and then it took on the sense of "esteemed, valued" and ultimately "beloved", gaining a sense of "high-priced" along the way.

Back in the time of the "quill pen", the word was used as a polite form of address in introducing a message to a friend or to a stranger and establishing status to a superior, an employee, or an equal.

Now, in the age of instant messaging and e-mail, the compressors of personal communication have been doing away with the word traditionally used in salutation. Instead of using Dear, the e-generation often starts off either with no greeting, the first name, Hello Name, Hi Name, etc.

Apparently, the internet is now considered to be an informal means of communication and so it is no longer necessary to use a particular form of greeting; as long as it isn't replaced with some form of rudeness.

—Excerpts from an article titled:
"A change of address: The demise of 'dear' " by William Safire
as seen in the International Herald Tribune, October 23, 2006; page 7.
A cessation of activity or existence.
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The death of a person or thing.
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demission
demit
1. The act of demitting; also, a letter, certificate, or the like, certifying that a person has (honorably) demitted.
2. To give up or to relinquish an office, membership, authority, or the like; to resign.
3. To lay down, as an office; to resign.
4. To let fall; to depress.
5. To yield or submit; to humble; to lower; as, to demit one's self to humble duties.
demobilize (verb), demobilizes; demobilized; demobilizing
To take military troops out of active service, typically at the end of a war: Jim was a veteran who was demobilized, or released, from martial duty at the end of World War II, which was a war that lasted from 1939 to 1945.
demode, démodé (day" moh DAY) (adjective); more demode, more démodé'; most demode, most démodé
1. Pertaining to something that is old-fashioned or no longer in style: Eve was wearing a démodé dress that her grandmother gave her which she wore in her youthful days.
2. Etymology: from French, the past participle of demoder, "to outmode" from dé-, "out" + mode, "fashion".
Out of date.
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Not in current fashion.
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demolish (verb), demolishes; demolished, demolishing
1. To tear down or to destroy to the fullest extent: The people in Sam's town hope the old theater will be renovated instead of demolished.

The old drug store was demolished to make a new parking lot.

2. To prove someone’s ideas as irrational or false: Patty’s mother couldn’t think of one argument that would demolish her daughter’s wish to go to the nightclub with her neighbor's son.
3. To depress or to humiliate someone completely: Becky, who was 16, enjoyed doing many things with older people and this apparently demolished any desires to be with her teenage friends.
To destroy, to put an end to something.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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demonstrability (s) (noun), demonstrabilities (pl)
A way to logically prove something: Editors of publications usually have demonstrabilities which can provide good reasons for revising the contents of some written documents.
demonstrable (adjective), more demonstrable, most demonstrable
1. Descriptive of something which is obvious or easy to recognize: Gwen was telling demonstrable lies so often that no one could believe her even when she was telling the truth.
2. Capable of being shown to be true or to exist: There was demonstrable proof that the neighbor set fire to his house so he could collect the insurance.
demonstrableness (s) (noun) (usually no plural)
The quality of being provable or logically validated: The employees were shown the demonstrableness of the new manufacturing process.

The new administrator revealed the demonstrableness regarding the lack of concern that the previous administrator had for his staff.

demonstrably (adverb), more demonstrably, most demonstrably
Relating to how something is shown in an obvious and provable way: The politicians had a demonstrably lack of concern for the general welfare of their country.