Skip to main content
PlainSpell

dep

noun, verb

dep is spelled D-E-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dep means “Clipping of department” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dep is deps or deps..

How many letters and syllables are in dep?

Letters3: D-E-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 31,168th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dep?

Dep appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dep?

    Dep has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

    Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

    What rhymes with dep?

    No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as dep.

    Spelled with the same letters in another order: ped.

    Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

    Forms of dep

    • deps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
    • dep.
    • dép
    • dép.
    • depping participle, present
    • depped participle, past
    • deps. plural
    • déps plural

    Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

    What does dep mean?

    The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

    noun

    1. 1

      Clipping of department.

    2. 2

      Clipping of deposit.

    3. 3

      Clipping of departure.

    4. 4

      informalA deposition.

      Don't worry too much if they don’t give us everything we need in their rog answers; we'll fill the gaps in dep.

    5. 5

      informalA deputy.

    6. 6

      CanadaQuebecinformalA dépanneur.

    7. 7

      informalA dependency.

    verb

    1. 1

      informalTo deputize.

    2. 2

      depart or departs

    3. 3

      deposed

    noun

    as DEP
    1. 1

      USInitialism of delayed entry program.

      A DEP allows a recruit to complete education before joining the military.

    2. 2

      Initialism of data execution prevention.

    noun

    as dép
    1. 1

      QuebecDepanneur.

    Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

    Dep in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

    In the sense To deputize:

    LanguageWords
    Germanaushelfen

    Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

    Where does dep come from?

    Clipping of department, originally slang from Imperial College, first attested c. 1930.

    Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

    What to look up after dep