dees

See also: dées

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdiːz/
• Rhymes: -iːz

Noun

dees

1. plural of dee, the name of the letter D.
2. Something shaped like the letter D.

   The pommel is furnished with dees.

3. (colloquial) Police detectives.

   The dees are about.

Anagrams

• seed, sede, EDES, dese, Seed, Edes

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈde.əs]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈde.es]

Noun

dees

1. plural of dea

Dutch

Etymology

Attested from the sixteenth century, possibly earlier.

Determiner

dees

1. (nonstandard) Alternative form of deze

   Ik wil dees hebben, mag ik er een? ― I want to have this one, can I have one?

Usage notes

• Historically not uncommonly encountered even in writing, but today considered typical of spoken language, especially that of children.

Latin

Verb

dēes

1. second-person singular present active imperative/indicative of dēsum

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deːs/
• Rhymes: -eːs

Etymology 1

Possibly from Middle High German deist (“that is”), contraction of daz or dat + ist. Compare German es sei denn (literally “it be then”) and the use of English that is to introduce a specification or additional requirement.

Alternatives include some formation with Luxembourgish ees (“once, sometime”), from Middle High German eins, or possibly a contraction similar to Dutch tenzij, based on Middle High German et en sī (“it be not”), where the loss of the stressed final syllable would be unexpected, however.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Conjunction

dees

1. unless

Synonyms

• ausser

Etymology 2

Inflected form of doen (“to do, to make”).

Verb

dees

1. second-person singular present indicative of doen

Middle Dutch

Determiner

dēes

1. inflection of dese:
   1. masculine nominative singular
   2. feminine nominative/accusative singular
   3. nominative/accusative plural

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

dees

1. Alternative form of deis (“dais”)

Etymology 2

From Old French des, plural of de. Owing to the noun's frequent use in the plural, sometimes, as in Modern English, reinterpreted as a singular.

Alternative forms

• dis, dys, des, dise, dyse, deis, deys, dez, dice, dyce, dies, dyes, deisse, deysse, disse, dysse

Noun

dees

1. plural of dee (“die”)

Noun

dees (plural dees or dyses)

1. Synonym of dee (“die”)

Descendants

• English: dice
• Scots: dice