D (dē) 1. The fourth letter of
the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. The English letter is
from Latin, which is from Greek, which took it from Phœnician,
the probable ultimate origin being Egyptian. It is related most
nearly to t and th; as, Eng. deep, G.
tief; Eng. daughter, G. tochter, Gr.
qyga`thr, Skr. duhitr. See Guide to
Pronunciation, √178, 179, 229.
2. (Mus.) The nominal of the second
tone in the model major scale (that in C), or of the fourth tone in
the relative minor scale of C (that in A minor), or of the key tone
in the relative minor of F.
3. As a numeral D stands for 500. in this use
it is not the initial of any word, or even strictly a letter, but one
half of the sign ? (or ? ) the original Tuscan numeral for
1000.