des
German, article
des is spelled D-E-S (3 letters) and appears 5,495 times per million words in written German, the 24th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Des is a German masculine article meaning “alternative form of das” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a genitive masculine/neuter singular of der: the. With a capital, Des is a different word: “D-flat”.
What does des mean in English?
article
- 1
alternative form of das
article
- 1
masculineneutergenitive masculine/neuter singular of der: the
noun
- 1
neuterD-flat
prefix
- 1
des-
- 2
dis-
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
determiner: 1. [1] Genitiv Singular von der und das
abbreviation: 1. Abkürzung für designatus; Bestandteil des Titels Dr. des.
noun: 1. Ton mit 275 Hz und alle Töne im Oktavabstand dazu, um einen Halbton vermindertes D
prefix: 1. ab-, ent-, weg-, von … weg, herab-, miss- 2. Präfix mit der Bedeutung, dass etwas aus der Stammverbindung abzuziehen ist
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of des
- der definite masculine nominative
- die definite feminine nominative
- das definite neuter nominative
- dem dative definite masculine
- den dative definite plural
- d. abbreviation
- de- variant
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is des in German?
des appears 5,495 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).