DE
Abbreviation with 5 meanings
| Stands for | Delaware |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 5 |
| Categories | Geography & Places, Education & Academia, Sports, Science & Engineering |
DE has five meanings. The most common are Delaware (US state) and Germany (country code); it can also stand for Dual enrollment, Defensive end and Dark energy.
Meanings of DE at a glance
| # | DE stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware | Geography & Places › US State |
| 2 | Germany | Geography & Places › Country Code |
| 3 | Dual enrollment | Education & Academia › K-12 Education |
| 4 | Defensive end | Sports › American Football |
| 5 | Dark energy | Science & Engineering › Astronomy & Space |
1. Delaware
Geography & Places · US State Abbreviations
The First State: Delaware ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787, ahead of the other 12 original states. Dover is the capital and Wilmington the largest city, and about two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated there because of its corporate statutes and Court of Chancery.
Example: The LLC is registered in Wilmington, DE, although its staff work in Texas.
Delaware's traditional and AP abbreviation is Del. DE has been the postal code since 1963. As an ISO country code DE means Germany (from Deutschland), so a shipping system showing country DE is sending to Germany, not Delaware. Delaware is never DL or DW.
2. Germany
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
Germany's code comes from Deutschland, its German name, which is why Germany is DE rather than GE (Georgia). Berlin is the capital, alpha-3 is DEU, and .de is one of the largest country domains in the world.
Example: German IBANs begin with DE and contain 22 characters.
Sports bodies use GER, while the German vehicle sign is D. Locale tags such as de-DE (German in Germany) and de-AT (German in Austria) use the same letters for the language. In US addresses DE is Delaware.
3. Dual enrollment
Education & Academia · K-12 Education Abbreviations
Arrangement in which high school students take college courses, at a college or at their high school, and earn credit toward both a high school diploma and a college transcript. Courses are often free or discounted for students.
Example: Through DE, she finished 24 college credits at the community college before graduating.
Also called dual credit or concurrent enrollment; definitions vary by state. Unlike AP, credit comes from passing the course rather than an exam, but transfer depends on the receiving college. DE also abbreviates Delaware and distance education.
4. Defensive end
Sports · American Football Abbreviations
Defensive lineman who lines up at either end of the defensive front, mainly responsible for rushing the passer and setting the edge against outside runs. Many of the league's sack leaders play the position.
Example: The DE beat the left tackle for two sacks in the fourth quarter.
In 3-4 defenses the ends play more like interior linemen while outside linebackers do much of the pass rushing, so many teams now list both simply as "edge" players. Bruce Smith and Reggie White, the NFL's top two career sack leaders since sacks became official in 1982, were defensive ends.
5. Dark energy
Science & Engineering · Astronomy & Space Abbreviations
Unknown form of energy that permeates space and drives the accelerating expansion of the universe, accounting for roughly 68% of its total energy content. The simplest explanation is Einstein's cosmological constant, a fixed energy of empty space.
Example: Mapping millions of galaxies helps measure how DE has influenced cosmic expansion over time.
Two teams studying distant Type Ia supernovae discovered the acceleration in 1998; Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. Cosmologist Michael Turner coined the term "dark energy" the same year. Its physical nature is unknown, and predicted values from particle physics disagree wildly with observation.
Related abbreviations
More US state abbreviations
- CA – California
- CO – Colorado
- CT – Connecticut
- DC – District of Columbia
- FL – Florida
- GA – Georgia
- HI – Hawaii
- IA – Iowa
See all 51 US state abbreviations →